If I recover from alcoholism, can I still drink socially?
This is a very dangerous question to answer in the affirmative, because most alcoholics do not get the level of treatment that it would take to be a “controlled drinker”. Programs that follow the disease model, (like all 12-step programs), would say that alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disease, which means that it continues as a disease for the rest of your life and gets worse in time, hence, progressive. Under this belief, one would be at very high risk to be a deadly drunk if they took one drink after many years of being alcohol and drug free.
However, some programs put their emphasis on helping a creating more able people and do not work on the disease model. These programs have shown that once a person has confronted his past and taken responsibility for his actions, he may be able to possess enough control over his life to have an alcoholic drink from time to time. However, there are no programs that promote this action. It is best to avoid ever returning to drinking alcohol if it has ever caused a problem in one’s life.
Last Updated on Monday, 14 December 2009 19:46
Alcohol is the most spread addiction in canada after cigarettes. The problem is that it is socially acceted!
!0 years ago, an average of 10% of our helpline calls were for medication addiction. Today it is over 40%!