Why Won't the Alcoholic get Help?

Recovery Slogan: Denial is Not a River in Egypt[/caption]This is the million dollar question. Why won't the alcoholic get help? Why won’t the alcoholic or addict admit that they need help, and why won’t they accept the help when it is offered? Help is abundant and easy to find. There are government funded drug rehab treatment programs. There are religious and church funded alcohol rehab programs. There are employer and insurance funded programs for cocaine, Vicodan, and oxycontin addiction. There are private pay drug rehabs of many kinds. It is easy to find alcohol, nicotine and other private drug treatment facilities of all kinds, for the budget conscious, for the very wealthy, and in between.

Twelve Step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and Al-Anon are found in (almost) every telephone directory in the world.  There is private counseling and group therapy.

There is help! The alcoholic in denial will find any reason to not take this help, or admit that they need it. Why won’t the alcoholic get help?

Alcoholism – Disease of Denial

Alcoholism is called the disease of denial. It is the only disease in the world that tells the afflicted that they don’t have the disease. The hallmark symptom of the disease is that the person will fight to the death to say that they don’t have the disease. Guess what – people that are not alcoholic never try to convince people that they are not alcoholic.  People that are not alcoholic, never try to control their drinking. Generally speaking, people that are not alcoholic never count how many days it has been since their last drink.  People that are not alcoholic do not ‘go on the water wagon’. Everyone around the alcoholic already knows.

The addict is often the last person to find out that they are an addict. It really seems crazy! How can they not know they are in the grip of a chronic, progressive and fatal disease, when it is so plain to everyone else?  Well, there really is no one answer to that question, and no one way to confront the person.  Sometimes a well planned intervention will work, often times it won’t.  Sometimes a hospital stay for alcoholic or drug related issues will wake a person up, sometimes it won’t. They say that alcohol is the best cleaning solution in the world. It will clean you out of house, home, job, family, self-respect, and even take your life. But many addicts watch all these things disappear, and complain about bad luck and being victimized, while continuing to drink and use.

Denial - it is not a river in Egypt!

The disease of alcoholism, as described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is “cunning, baffling and powerful. Without help, it is too much for us”. What is the best thing you can do for an active alcoholic of addict in your life that refuses to see the truth?  The very very best thing that you can do for your loved one, is to be healthy yourself, have healthy boundaries, and not enable them. We have seen tens of thousands of addicts “loved to death” by their family and friends. Let the alcoholic know that you are ready to be supportive to get them into treatment. Do what you can to offer some choices, like a website or two of appropriate rehabs, treatment centers or addiction facilities. Then step back.If the addiction treatment center seems like a prison, they likely will rebel even more.  If the treatment facility is located in a beautiful tropical country, confidential and private, if it has excellent food, empathetic, caring and professional counselors that understand addiction, if it includes sailing, hiking, zip-lining and the very best local mountain grown handpicked coffee in the world, it will be much more appealing. Even to someone in denial.Why won’t the alcoholic get help? What does “disease of denial” mean? The answers to these questions really become meaningless. What is important is presenting appealing options for treatment, and then just stepping back.

Rethinking Private Pay Drug & Alcohol Rehab

Serenity Vista Addiction Recovery Retreat is a world-class, affordable luxury treatment facility for alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, heroin, Vicodin, marijuana and other drug addictions. Located centrally and easy to get to, the county of Panama is astounding for its beauty and wildlife. Panama is safe and secure, modern and prosperous. Boquete, Panama is the perfect place to learn about alcoholism and addiction, and to become healthy and whole.