Individuals with alcohol addiction face daily challenges, one being unhealthy relationships. Codependency and alcohol abuse often go hand-in-hand. When someone loves a person who struggles with addiction, they may fall into patterns of unconsciously allowing their behavior. Codependent relationships are not equal and fulfilling, yet individuals often think they’re showing love through enabling behaviors. Let’s talk about how to identify codependency and its risks, as well as the recovery for alcohol addiction.
What Is Alcohol Abuse?
Alcohol abuse refers to unhealthy and dangerous patterns of alcohol use. Many people do not realize alcohol is a highly addictive substance that alters your brain chemistry over time. The longer you follow risky alcohol habits, the more you place yourself on the path towards addiction. Thus, alcohol abuse can look like different drinking practices with varying degrees of severity. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines degrees of alcohol addiction. These stages generally escalate over time and develop into the most serious form where individuals require professional intervention. Notably, the degrees are binge drinking, high-intensity drinking, heavy drinking, alcohol misuse, and alcohol use disorder. AUD is a brain disorder that prevents individuals from quitting without help.
Why Is Alcohol Abuse Dangerous?
Abusing alcohol destroys thousands of lives in the United States alone each year. The greatest risk of alcohol addiction is overdose and death. However, short-term and long-term alcoholism may lead to numerous health risks that can be chronic and debilitating. These health issues can significantly impair your quality of life and may shorten it as well. Some examples of potential health damages are cancer, stroke, liver disease, pneumonia, and cognitive decline. Additionally, alcohol abuse is dangerous for the way it impacts every part of one’s life, including relationships, profession, and finances.
Alcohol Abuse Statistics
By looking at the statistics, it is possible to see how alcohol abuse and addiction impact a huge number of people. In the United States alone, 141,000 people die from alcohol-related issues each year. Further, approximately 385 Americans die per day from alcohol. As mentioned, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most extreme version of an unhealthy alcohol habit. An estimated 1 in 10 people in America over 12 struggle with an AUD. Realistically, many young people do abuse alcohol because, although AUD develops over time, individuals start young. Social drinking is perpetuated through messaging online and in television, which contributes to the belief there aren’t consequences of alcohol.
What Is Codependency?
Codependency refers to a relationship between people where one person relies on the other to an unhealthy degree. Both people in a relationship can be equally co-dependent on one another, or one person can be more needy. Often, codependency specifically refers to a relationship where one person relies on the other due to an addiction. This is a common occurrence in the reality of substance addictions. In the same way, the person being relied on can enable their partner’s addiction by allowing them to be self-destructive. Codependency from alcoholism can happen in families, friendships, and romantic relationships. Overall, codependency doesn’t lead to fruitful, healthy relationships where both people push each other to be their best. It’s easy to become stuck in a codependent situation, even without realizing it.
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How Are Codependency and Alcohol Abuse Related?
Codependent relationships often develop in situations of alcohol addiction. Notably, either person in the relationship can rely on the other to an unhealthy degree. In many cases, a sober individual takes on the role of caretaker to the one who is struggling. They may try to earn love through their helpful and selfless behavior or their actions may stem from the desire to help the person they love through illness. On the other hand, the person with alcohol addiction may heavily rely on the other person who isn’t struggling with addiction. Notably, codependency is sometimes referred to as “relationship addiction,” where the person develops a dependency on the other person. Unfortunately, codependency and alcoholism aren’t a good mix and will only lead to greater unwellness.
Enabling
What is enabling? Enabling refers to when someone allows another to do something harmful. For example, enabling can occur in codependent relationships when one person makes excuses for the other’s addiction. Additionally, enabling alcohol abuse happens when they allow the other to continue in their self-destructive behaviors. Generally, enabling comes from a place of love. The enabler wants to protect their loved one, help them, or clean up their mess. However, what they are doing is making it possible for the alcohol abuser to continue harming themself. Overall, enabling is a challenging behavior to break out of. Yet, it’s better for the alcohol abuser not to be supported in their dysfunctional behavior. As a result, they will be required to make changes that break them out of their addiction.
Cycle of Addiction
It is incredibly difficult to stop abusing alcohol on your own, especially if you have an alcohol use disorder (AUD). It’s challenging to summon the motivation and desire to stop because AUD is a brain disorder beyond your control. Addiction is a never-ending cycle if you don’t seek outside intervention. Alcohol use disorder is a chronic condition, yet it can be successfully managed. For the entirety of their life, a person will need to be vigilant about avoiding alcohol after treatment. The cycle of alcohol abuse is addiction, sobriety, relapse, and repeated treatment. Entering professional treatment with an experienced alcohol rehab program is the best way to ensure you avoid relapse.
What Are the Signs of Codependency and Alcohol Abuse?
It can be challenging to recognize patterns of codependency in your life and the lives of others. Codependency is especially common in situations where some person struggles with alcohol abuse. Yet, these are also situations where individuals are dealing with the many risks and impacts of addiction. As a result, codependency often gets pushed aside, but it’s dangerous to perpetuate, as it can lead to eventual alcohol-caused death. Here are some general signs to watch for that can indicate codependency and substance abuse.
- Fear of abandonment
- Controlling behavior
- Low self-esteem
- Drinking with the person with AUD
- Avoidance
- Neglecting personal goals
- Sacrificial behavior
- Unhealthy coping tactics
- Relying on the other person
- Feeling lost outside of that relationship
How to Overcome Codependency and Alcohol Abuse
In order to experience healthy, fulfilling relationships, it’s important to overcome codependency. When you love someone who is struggling with addiction, enabling their disorder only keeps them trapped in the dangerous cycle. Of course, enabling behavior often stems from the difficulty around loving someone who is struggling. So how do you overcome codependency around alcohol abuse? It’s important to remove enabling behavior from your relationship so your loved one is forced to make changes. Encouraging your loved one to receive alcoholism treatment is an important first step. As long as they remain in their addiction, they only increase their physical and mental health risks.
One sign of codependency is denying the severity of the issue. It’s time to face the reality of your situation and find your loved one professional help. Many individuals struggling with alcoholism and codependency engage in unhealthy behavior, where codependent individuals enable destructive patterns, making it harder to break the cycle of addiction. Recognizing the signs of alcoholism, such as reliance on drugs and alcohol to cope with stress, is crucial for seeking addiction treatment. Effective treatment programs offer various levels of care, including inpatient rehab, residential treatment, intensive outpatient programs, and partial hospitalization programs, depending on the severity of the addiction. Alcohol detox is often the first step, as alcohol withdrawal can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms that require medical supervision. Addressing codependency and addiction through family therapy, individual therapy, and couples therapy helps codependent people and their loved ones develop coping skills and learn to set boundaries to avoid codependent behavior.
Alcohol Abuse Treatment Near Me
We know you want to help your loved one find safe, effective alcohol abuse treatment nearby. At Seaglass Recovery, we are a women-only treatment center offering comprehensive drug rehab. Additionally, because mental, physical, and spiritual wellness are connected, we provide mental health treatment and dual-diagnosis treatment. Our programming is straightforward, combining medical assistance with traditional and alternative therapies. We can help your loved one overcome their alcohol addiction. Additionally, through our family and couples counseling, we can help you find healing from codependency. Please let us support you through codependency and alcohol abuse.
