Asking for help with an alcohol problem

Or a cocaine problem, or an opiate problem, or a pot problem, etc. We have an ad that gets to the heart of an alcohol problem:

The hardest part is taking that first step and calling someone and saying that you need help. Most of us, men and women, don’t like to admit we need help, especially with something alike alcohol or some other drug. It can feel shameful to realize you have an alcohol problem, although all of us working in the addiction treatment field have fought against the stigma. It’s actually easy to talk with someone who works in the field and understands the problem — we don’t think there’s anything shameful at all about an alcohol problem or any drug problem for that matter.

Over and over I hear people say, after they’ve reached out for help, that it was much easier than they expected. Empathy is powerful. Once you talk with someone who has empathy for your situation — not sympathy, but empathy — you realize you are not alone, that people from all walks of life have or have had the same alcohol problem.

You also realize that others who’ve had an alcohol problem are now living whole, healthy lives without alcohol or any other mood altering drug. It’s only when a person tries to deal with the problem alone that the problem grows bigger, scarier, more complex and seems unsolvable. Once you talk with someone else who understands, you get a new perspective and you begin realizing there’s a solution. You begin to have hope.

Hopelessness is a terrible state of mind. So many people with drug problems end their lives because they see no way out, and this is senselessly tragic. Addiction is treatable. You can recover from addiction and live a fulfilled life — there is always hope as long as you’re breathing. One of the things we do in treatment is get our clients to understand that all is not lost, no matter how bad it has become.

I’ve dealt with people who were homeless and who had lost everything material and spiritual, but they recovered and transformed and put it all back together. It can be done, it has been done, it is being done.  You just have to do it, and the first step is to face the problem and seek help.