The psychology of alcoholism is a phenomenon that has not yet been fully studied. A large number of people fall into a similar trap. Today, many individuals suffer from this insidious disease. Sometimes a person torments himself and relatives for years, cannot keep his own life under control. In impassable everyday life, he gets tired of fighting and gradually despairs. To talk about the causes of alcoholism, psychology also needs to know.
You need to understand why some people prefer to run away from problems rather than solve them. Any form of addictive behavior humiliates a person, suppresses desires, excludes all opportunities for self-development. Not everyone has the strength to fight and go to the end under any circumstances. Some prefer to give up, and then failures begin to pursue constantly.
Behavior
The appearance of any addiction causes irreparable harm to humans. He ceases to think and reason sensibly, refuses to make informed decisions. Anyone who has come across this phenomenon directly knows how difficult it is sometimes to struggle. Usually those around them condemn, consider them weak and weak-willed. Let us consider in more detail the psychology of an alcoholic. Alcoholism is too serious to try to hush up the problem.
Denial of responsibility
A person who has an addiction problem is usually afraid to act. At some point, he ceases to rely on his own conscience and ceases to be responsible for his actions. The disclaimer comes from an unconscious desire to rid oneself of additional suffering. After all, if you are constantly tormented by experiences, the mood will always be at zero. An alcoholic is already stressed every day and does not want to aggravate it.
If the opportunity arises, it will become better to be in limbo. It is difficult to act and make decisions precisely because it is necessary to go through pain and awareness of the inevitable. A man, in fact, lives in the illusion that everything is fine with him, and does not want to change his own beliefs.
One day life
A true alcoholic is not interested in what will happen tomorrow. A person who has become addicted lives one day. For him, there is only today, the moment when he wants to satisfy his need for a drink. In fact, this behavior is dictated by a high level of anxiety. This is also a defensive reaction in order not to take responsibility, to avoid thoughtful steps. So it’s much easier to start complaining about the life of others, to blame anyone for their own troubles. As soon as a really strong person is able to pull himself together, begin to review existing strategies of behavior. But this does not happen to everyone, and only at the initial stage of alcohol dependence.
The impossibility of self-control
This is perhaps the saddest. The psychology of alcoholism is such that the individual ceases to somehow monitor what is happening in his life. He reveals the impossibility of self-control, which only worsens over time. He lives as if in another dimension, gradually losing the skill of interacting with people around him. It starts to seem to some that everyone wants to offend him or laugh at his problems.
Inability to control one’s own behavior is a serious problem that can lead to the fact that a person will lose his moral character. The aggravation of the situation occurs gradually, but the individual is in an illusory rest. It seems to him that those around him are faulty in vain, blame and make all kinds of claims against him completely unreasonably.
Inability to recognize addiction
The human psyche is arranged in such a way that he will always, under any circumstances, strive to justify himself. Dependent people do not understand that they are sick. It is unfair to all alcoholics that they can stop at any moment and stop drinking. Only in the most difficult cases, when it is already required to make incredible efforts to cure, the individual finally acknowledges his weakness. As a rule, this happens when the situation already becomes very difficult to correct. For the most part, people pity themselves too often instead of actively acting. This is a very sad moment that does not lead anywhere. There is even greater concentration on the problem and the closure of the vicious circle. Such a state of affairs cannot suit, however, changing the decision often turns out to be a daunting task.
Avoiding problem talk
The psychology of an alcoholic is complex. He shuns any conversations about the fact that he needs to change. This is because the individual does not feel internal resources in order to qualitatively transform his own reality. He can only continue to slide into the abyss, sinking lower and lower. In order not to upset himself even more, a person begins to avoid any conversations that relate to his dependence. The fact is that no one likes to feel depressed and powerless. He prefers not to notice the whole truth, rather than constantly encountering harsh reality. Life in an illusion in a certain sense is comfortable, as a person moves away from reality, stops sensibly assessing his position. The individual begins to plunge even more into fictional reality in order to drown out all sorts of pangs of repentance for his inappropriate behavior. Otherwise, one would have to constantly feel deserted and unarmed.
Thinking
The ability to feel satisfaction from life also changes if alcoholism develops. This is a serious ailment that can ruin everything in life, without giving a chance to prove itself from the best side. It becomes hardest to overcome your psychology. Alcoholism treatment will not be successful if internal balance is not achieved. Of course, thinking is changing. There are big claims to others and ourselves.
In a man
The psychology of alcoholism among the stronger sex is quite complicated. Guys, as a rule, do not like to complain about life and prefer to keep everything in themselves. It is rare to hear from a man that he is dissatisfied with his own life and wants to change it. In fact, this is a rarity. Even if such thoughts appear in the head, they will not necessarily be voiced, this must also be taken into account. Sometimes even the closest people cannot rely on frankness. You need to have useful skills to know how to deal with her husband's alcoholism. The psychology of guys is sometimes incomprehensible to girls. After all, the fair sex most often want to rely on their life partners.
But in reality it often turns out that women themselves have to shoulder the solution of complex issues. And this teaches the guys to relieve themselves of all responsibility for the well-being of their family.
Among women
Science still does not give a definite answer about the causes of female alcoholism. The psychology of the fair sex is such that sometimes the girls themselves do not understand themselves. They are more affected by emotions than guys. As a result, negative experiences are much more likely to accumulate. If there is no one to share with them, then some significant needs are suppressed. The psychology of female alcoholism should be classified as the most complex and controversial issues. Mostly girls start drinking when their life is lacking emotional satisfaction.
If there is no mutual understanding in the family, then it is much easier to break oneself and stop believing in one’s own prospects. Every lady wants to feel protected, to be confident in the future. This becomes harder to achieve if you are alone and do not feel needed by anyone. Pouring grief with alcohol is not the best solution, but women often realize this too late.
Psychical deviations
Being in captivity of any dependence, it is simply impossible to feel comfortable. People begin to discover in themselves a huge hole through which vital energy constantly flows.
Outbreaks of aggression
A person becomes extremely sensitive to any negative factors. He has claims to the government, neighbors, acquaintances. Family relations, as a rule, do not go well either: there are uncontrolled outbreaks of aggression. Sometimes the individual does not remember what he said in the heat of anger. Constantly have to apologize for their ugly behavior, but not all people agree to take into account the fact that a person is not in himself. If outbreaks of aggression are repeated too often, then the person may lose the support of friends and relatives. After all, even close people are not always ready to endlessly endure and hope for the best, if there is no reason for this. Usually, the second halves of drinking people want to feel some kind of support, and it is they who stop feeling it.
Constant discontent
A person simply cannot remain internally satisfied when he loses the ability to control his own life. Constant discontent, of course, affects relationships with others. Many turn away from those who are addicted, fearing unforeseen cases. In addition, alcoholics are perceived by society as weak individuals who do not know how to fight and set goals. The individual is simply unable to rejoice at the moment when everything in life collapses.
Signs of Alcoholism
There are clear manifestations in behavior that allow us to identify the development of obvious dysfunction. It is on them that one needs to pay attention in order to be able to take timely measures to restore peace of mind. If a person refuses to act, then everything in his life is really bad.
Baseless resentment
Alcohol addiction is characterized by the fact that the person has too many claims and fears. They do not give rest either day or night, literally eat from the inside. Grudges arise from scratch, various misunderstandings. The more an individual concentrates on them, the more he gets entangled in existing relationships. There is a tendency to constantly dramatize everything and to see only negative factors in any event. It almost always turns out that a person himself undeservedly offends people, and those closest to him — those who are ready to help and support him in everything.
Low self-esteem
Such is the general portrait of the addict, his psychology. The causes of alcoholism in men and women are often associated with low self-esteem. Gradually, a positive image of oneself changes, transforms into a negative one. Low self-esteem may be initially, but under the influence of adverse factors, the situation only worsens. No one can feel truly satisfied and happy if in life there is no confidence in light changes.
It’s just that a person in vain loses vital energy, acquires the habit of considering himself incapable of anything. A sense of worthlessness is a frequent companion of addictive behavior. This is human psychology. Causes of male alcoholism often underlie misconduct. The person begins to concentrate solely on his defeats, is afraid to look forward. There is disbelief in their own prospects, that the situation can be corrected.
Emotional instability
The psychology of alcoholism in men and women is such that people lose their internal balance. The feeling of confidence and peace finally leaves them. An unstable, constantly changing mood is observed, which becomes quite difficult to control. Emotional instability leads to systematic explosions, attacks of aggression. A feeling of deafening emptiness is formed inside, which cannot be filled with anything. A bad mood usually prevails. A person sometimes cannot understand how to act in the simplest situation.
Thus, the psychology of alcoholism is a rather complex topic that causes a lot of controversy and interpretation. If a person falls into this form of dependence, then, of course, needs help and treatment. Be sure to admit your own weakness, to understand what exactly prevents the release from addictive behavior. Books on the psychology of alcoholism will help to understand the origins of the problem:
- S. Grebnev. "Psychology and psychotherapy of alcohol dependence."
- O. Statsenko. "How not to drink."
- A. Ivanchev. "Life without alcohol."
- L. Kruglyak. "Is alcoholism a joy or a serious illness?"
- S. Yakovlev. "Alcohol and your life."
If you need to defeat an invisible enemy, you must first understand the situation. It is better to try to learn the necessary literature than to stay inactive and complain about life. You should not just consider yourself weak and weak-willed, because then there will be no creative energy left in order to continue to act. It is impossible to constantly hide from life, you need to learn to accept its realities.