Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Alcoholics affect everyone but help is available

Alcoholics affect everyone in the situation.

Ann’s husband is an alcoholic.

Spouses of alcoholics have two options — they can leave the alcoholic or they can seek help and understanding in order to live with the person they love.

Ann chose the second option. For several years Ann has been attending Al-Anon. Ann is not her real name and her identity is protected because Al-Anon is an anonymous group, but she agreed to share her personal struggles in an interview with the Whitecourt Star.

Going to Al-Anon has helped Ann deal with the devastating disease of alcoholism.

“Instead of trying to fix the alcoholic we are just trying to lead happier and more manageable lives ourselves,” she said.

“After being in Al-Anon myself it has allowed me to see the person instead of the disease. For many years I just saw the disease and it’s horrible. Now I can see the person again.”

Although there has been much discussion about alcoholism, it is widely considered a disease, just as most addictions are. Ann said she wanted to share her story for National Addictions Awareness Week, which was held Nov. 18-22.

Ann wants spouses, children, friends and family members of alcoholics to know there is help out there. There are other people living with the same disease as they are.

“Alcoholism is a disease but the disease also affects the people around the alcoholic,” said Ann. “Just like alcoholism can distort the thinking of the alcoholic it can distort the thinking of the people around the alcoholic.”

Al-Anon is a support group for people living with an alcoholic. The focus of the group is not to blame the alcoholic or even focus on the drinker but rather to learn how to deal with the problem to live a happier life.

source: Whitecourt Star

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Lotus Therapy, a New Old Path

The patient sat with his eyes closed, submerged in the rhythm of his own breathing, and after a while noticed that he was thinking about his troubled relationship with his father. “I was able to be there, present for the pain,” he said, when the meditation session ended. “To just let it be what it….

DRINKING ALCOHOL DOES NOT PROTECT AGAINST CANCER

Most people like a bit of alcohol, so it’s natural to tune in to reports about its benefits. There are widespread rumours that certain types of alcohol, like red wine, can help to protect against cancer. And when it comes to the negative side of drinking, most people think of hangovers or liver problems. But….

Heavy drinkers may develop Alzheimer's earlier

Drinking or smoking heavily can speed up the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. Scientists found that drinkers developed the disease almost five years earlier and heavy smokers just over two years earlier, after studying 938 people aged 60 or more who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Ranjan Duara, of the Mount….

Questionnaire helps students evaluate drinking habits

TORONTO – Laura Adamarczuk was initially blase when asked to complete an online questionnaire to evaluate her drinking habits. The survey was compulsory for residence dons at the University of Western Ontario, but the 21-year-old felt the exercise had minimal value. A student who went out with friends about twice a week was, after all,….

Getting your fix at the doctor’s office

A group of Canadian researchers has demonstrated the truth of a practice commonly used in European countries like The Netherlands and Switzerland: Heroin can be an effective treatment for chronic, relapsing heroin addicts. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study is “the first rigorous test of the approach performed in North America,”….