All addicts suffer from delusional thinking. It is well recognized by many experts on addiction recovery, that delusional thinking can be a major causative factor instigating alcoholic relapse. This is because the patterns of delusional thinking don't cease to operate simply because an individual enters into a state of abstinence. Albeit true that some delusional thinking patterns can be attributed to the physical damage to the brain as a result of prolonged alcohol abuse, it is much more the result of learned behavior that the alcoholic programs into his brain throughout the process of abuse. The alcoholic's value system, judgment, ability to accurately access data, and basic reasoning skills all have become grossly impaired as the addiction progresses. The net result of all of this is the alcoholic makes decisions not based on correctness according to what Normal Society would assess as being beneficial, but rather makes decisions based on what action best feeds their addiction, and generally speaking does so with reckless abandon. All the while the alcoholic is trying to convince themselves that they don't have a problem with their drinking and that they are in control.



The inevitable deterioration of every aspect of their life declines as the inability to rationally manage relationships, exercise fiscal responsibility, and maintain a health self image derogate to the point of crisis. Quite often people who love the alcoholic will attempt to fix them. They do so by going around trying to repair the damage to the alcoholic life and things for a short period of time will seem to be better, until the cycle repeats itself.

Since alcoholism is more of a ?Thinking Problem? than a drinking problem, the best way to combat improper thinking is surround yourself with people with insight into your particular problem and check yourself and your decision making against what you would hold to be as a correct model. Transparency is extremely important. However, exercise caution when you select a few close associates to bare your soul to. Human nature being what it is, all too often people are prone to take advantage and somehow find a way to manipulate you for their selfish gain. Whether it is as simple as a spouse saving Bullets to shoot at you in a later disagreement, to a coworker looking to elevate themselves at your expense, the possibility always exists that you may be hurt. Transparency involves some risk even when not related to alcoholic recovery, however the benefits gained, far outweigh the risks in terms of quality relationships.

The best way to do this is to find an alcohol support group to give you the support and resources to help you become successful in your recovery. In your search for the right group for you, bear in mind that alcoholism in its destructive manifestation in your life affected every aspect of it, your mental, emotional, relational, physical, and financial areas, why not try to find an organization dedicated to helping you improve all these concerns and enable you to be truly successful and happy in life.