You may have heard a curious term if you or a loved one has ever been involved in addiction treatment programs—“grateful alcoholic.” It can be tough to understand why anyone would ever call themselves that, but there are a few reasons why it’s possible to be thankful for even negative experiences. Learn more by calling Promises at 844.875.5609.
What Is a Grateful Alcoholic?
Seeing the many ways addiction can negatively impact your life, what is a grateful alcoholic? It’s not someone who is grateful for having a substance use disorder but someone who is thankful they were able to recover and who has seen an improvement in their lives as a result of their recovery journey.
To understand what a grateful alcoholic is, it helps to understand what’s involved in an alcohol use disorder and how it can impact your life.
An alcohol use disorder is a mental health condition in which you can’t control or stop your use of alcohol despite all of the negative consequences it causes. It is a compulsive and relapsing condition that can occur with or without other mental health concerns.
Some of the signs of alcohol use disorders are:
- Drinking more than you wanted to drink
- Having alcohol cravings
- Blacking out
- Continuing to drink despite the distress it causes you or others
- Having frequent hangovers
- Feeling irritable when not drinking
- Needing to drink more to get the same effects
- Getting into dangerous situations when drinking
- Spending a lot of time drinking or recovering from drinking
- Experiencing withdrawal symptoms
Negative childhood experiences, trauma, and having begun drinking early in life can all put you at risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. If you have close relatives with a substance use disorder of any kind, you are also more at risk.
Why Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery Works Best With a Sense of Gratitude
Recovering from an alcohol use disorder requires more than just stopping the consumption of alcohol. That is certainly part of the process, but there’s much more. You also have to address the reasons why you may have turned to alcohol use in the first place. It focuses on helping you improve your overall well-being.
As you go through treatment, you’ll likely be encouraged to:
- Maintain a healthy and sober lifestyle
- Repair social relationships
- Attend therapy sessions to improve mental health wellness
Essentially, going through an alcohol use disorder recovery program offers the chance to improve your mental, social, and physical well-being.
One of the ways you can achieve this is by focusing on gratitude throughout your recovery journey. Gratitude makes it possible for you to reflect on the past as well as on the improvements you have made. It also encourages you to look forward to the next steps you’d like to take.
Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of their pasts, grateful alcoholics recognize how much they’ve improved. This kind of positivity makes it easier to stick to the recovery plan even when the process is difficult.
Gratitude also helps improve confidence levels. An alcohol use disorder has significant negative effects on self-confidence, leading you to doubt yourself and your ability to get sober. Expressing gratitude instead can help you maintain a positive self-image, leading to improved motivation.
Grateful Alcoholic: Help Yourself Achieve Sobriety at Promises
It’s not easy to become a grateful alcoholic, and it doesn’t mean you won’t go through the challenges other people who’ve recovered from a substance use disorder experience. What being a grateful alcoholic offers is the chance to help your self-confidence grow, which, in turn, can help you remain sober.
Contact Promises today at 844.875.5609 to begin your alcohol use disorder recovery.