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

Who Answers?

You Can’t Help an Alcoholic Until They’re Ready – Right?

For many years people, treatment professionals, family members and the like have all believed that in order for an alcoholic to recover from the alcoholism they have to WANT to recover. It’s been believed that you can’t help an alcoholic until they are ready to accept the help – right?

This statement couldn’t be further from the truth!

Although it may be easier to help an alcoholic that actually wants to get better, the truth is that even if the addict doesn’t necessarily want the help, attending an alcohol treatment center can be a very beneficial factor in their recovery and can actually change their outlook on recovery all together. The fact is, many alcoholics do not even realize that they have a problem which means that they will naturally deny help if it is offered. After all, who wants help when there isn’t a problem to be helped with?

Here’s a look at why you should not rely on an alcoholic to WANT the help before offering treatment and also why many alcoholics will refuse treatment but after being admitted into an alcohol treatment center still go on to make a full recovery:

Control Factors

Alcoholics do not realize that they have a problem and even if they do, a lack of control makes them deny the problem. Nobody wants to feel like they are out of control of their own functions but unfortunately, alcoholism causes the addict to experience a loss of control which prevents them from stopping the drinking habit on their own. Additionally, alcoholics will refuse treatment because they just plain don’t think that they need it.

Excuses

Alcoholics will make every excuse in the book to prevent from accepting the fact that they are out of control of their alcoholism and that they need help. Part of all programs offered at treatment centers includes helping an addict to realize that they are out of control to a sense and need help. Most alcoholics will make excuses for irrational behavior and attempt to rationalize with you about the behavior to make it seem better or less destructive. This doesn’t mean that you have to accept the behavior as normal nor do you stop trying to get the alcoholic to go into treatment. Just because an alcoholic rationalizes about their drinking habits does not make them unable to get treatment.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Finally, alcoholics do not have to hit rock bottom before they can get help. You may think that they do, you may think that they will actually want treatment once they hit rock bottom but this is not always true. When an alcoholic does hit rock bottom a number of things may occur. The addict may ask for treatment, they may decide it can’t get any worse and continue to deny help and keep drinking or they could die. Ultimately, even if an addict doesn’t want to go into an alcohol treatment center they can still be treated and make a full recovery from alcohol addiction.

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Substance abuse, schizophrenia and risk of violence

A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine demonstrates that there is an association between schizophrenia and violence, but shows that this association is greatly increased by drug and alcohol abuse. Importantly, the study also finds that the risk of violence from patients with psychoses who also have substance use disorder….

Treatment of Eating disorder for teens

Eating disorder is particularly seen in the teenagers and mostly in girls as compared to the boys. A person with an eating disorder “typically starves himself” to lose weight. Though the exact cause of this disorder is not clear, this disorder is said to be a combination of various factors like genetics, physiological and social…..

Gambling: Counseling has big payoffs

Gambling addiction can leave a person’s life in shambles, but there is a road to recovery. Both nationally and locally, there are support groups, treatment options and assessment tools to help people get through gambling problems, and keep them away from gambling. The first step, though, is finding out if a person is a problem….

Is 18 too young to drink a beer?

Is 18 too young to drink a beer? A group of college and university presidents and administrators have called for a public debate to rethink the legal drinking age in the United States. Some of them openly support lowering the age to 18 from 21; others are truly looking for help in dealing with a….

Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers for the Elderly

Elderly treatment is fragile and must be carefully considered before moving forward with care. Seniors often develop drinking problems to cope with loneliness, grief or pain. It is important to choose alcohol addiction treatment centers that have experience in treating the elderly. Substance abuse among the elderly is one of the fastest growing health problems….