4 Ways To End The Alcoholic Torture
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Gandhi
Die
It is a fact that most alcoholics will die in their illness — that is, without recovering.
According to ‘National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, June 2017’, 80,000 Americans have an alcohol related death every year.
AA or other program
The most successful program in the 20th century for recovering alcoholics was Alcoholics Anonymous. Founded by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in 1938, AA became synonymous with alcoholic recovery.
This century, with it’s technological advances and liberal attitudes, has seen a marked changing in the recovery ‘movement.’
Rehabs are commonplace and even socially acceptable, and many enterprises have sprung up to take advantage of a population in dire need of help.
SMART recovery has developed a following using a variety of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and motivational tools and techniques.
Refuge Recovery is based on the AA 12 Steps but for Buddhists.
And if you have insurance or many $10,000 you can hang out in a rehab for a while and then hope for the best after that.
Self-will alone
Will power, according to Dr. David Sack in Psychology Today, won’t work.
“By now, the research is clear:
Addiction is a chronic brain disease, not a matter of willpower. This means that, contrary to old stereotypes, people who become addicted to drugs or alcohol are not weak, immoral or tragically flawed.”
God alone
James 2: 14 says,
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
Not only has James seen the light, but I too have seen in my time people leaving AA to attempt sobriety in the Church with little success.
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
The long and short of this short article is that there is no known easy fix, one-size-fits-all, magic potion method for addiction recovery.
It takes a loving companion, medical advice, spiritual support and personal fortitude. There are emotional, physical and mental issues.
Childhood trauma analysis, CBT, Gestalt and transactional analysis will help.
Buddha, Jesus, Abraham and Mohammed will be of great assistance
I like to think that I can offer rounded and non-judgmental advice but ultimately you have to be willing, and persistent.
Once all the advice comes in you have to take it, and with your Higher Power, get on with the changes necessary to become a new person.
And as my old mate Wolfgang said once…
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” — Goethe
Love always,
Mike
If you like the feel of this article and are thinking you would like to give sobriety a go, try my FREE 5 part course, “Stop Drinking — Start Living”. and look for our podcast Happy Sober & Frickin Awesome in your favorite podcast app.
Originally published at dharmaholic.com on September 7, 2018.
