Lonely, empty, overwhelmed, sad, angry, bitter, anxious, stressed and helpless – these are the emotions that many alcoholics experience and use alcohol to self-medicate their unwanted feelings.

They are impulsive and often have abandonment issues, rendering them helpless in their fight to stay sober. Alcohol is only a symptom of an underlying problem.

Alcoholics suffering with Borderline Personality try to quell their emotional pain with dissociation by using alcohol. This comes under Substance Abuse in the Criteria for BPD. It’s often called Emotion Regulation Disorder.We prefer to use this term as Borderline Personality sounds a bit psycho.

People with Emotion Regulation Disorder and Alcoholism, like many others, fear change. They worry that getting help for their problems will be difficult, perhaps embarrassing, and possibly even impossible. So, they ask themselves, if treatment may not be successful, why take a chance in the first place? This is often referred to rationalising or justifying their drinking habits. For many people, not trying at all seems better than trying and failing.

Along with fear, blaming and procrastination also pose barriers to change. Searching for villains or victims shackles people in place, unable to move forward. Ignoring symptoms or putting off treatment impedes progress.

An alcoholic with Emotion Regulation Disorder compound their recovery with impulsiveness and procrastination. Alcoholics suffering with Emotion Regulation Disorder (BPD) don’t like change and are unwilling to try any suggestions. We know this to be true because we send patients a wealth of information to help them in their early days of recovery, only to find out that they haven’t bothered to print off the information or they lament they have been too busy.   Too busy doing what?   Drinking……….

Uncontrollable anger is another symptom of Emotion Regulation Disorder (BPD) and some patients become defensive or aggressive during their recovery. They often cling to the words “I’m hopeless” and that no one can help them. We’ve heard some extraordinary excuses for picking up a drink after short term sobriety. Alcoholics with Emotion Regulation Disorder (BPD) have difficulty listening to what is being said.

An alcoholic’s stubbornness doesn’t explain their blatant resistance to their counsellor’s best efforts to treat them. We’ve found that their resistance is actually fear. Fear of change and fear of failure. A lot of counsellor’s give up after a period of time but we offer patients  follow-up emails to see if they are OK.  More often than not, they are drinking and too ashamed to come back into recovery. The revolving door to recovery starts to diminish after each binge.

Alcoholics suffering with Emotion Regulation Disorder (BPD) have experienced loss, trauma, abuse or neglect during childhood. As adults, the unstable moods and impulsivity they developed in childhood may lead to loss of friends, family and lovers. As a result, they look at new relationships with a combination of fear and hope; they crave closeness yet expect abandonment.  To protect against feared abandonment, alcoholics often misbehave in social situations. They feel that rejecting is better than being rejected. Therefore, they test the limits and patience of people who try to help them to make sure they do the hurting – not the other way around. Alcoholics with Emotion Regulation Disorder (BPD) most often test the relationships they have with significant others, including their practitioner.

There is life after alcohol and it is a good life. If you would like to end your search for that elusive transitory thing called happiness through the bottle, then seek professional help.

Contact us if you think you might have Emotion Regulation Disorder or Border Personality Disorder as it is generally known, hindering your success to long term sobriety.

In the meantime, you might like to help your liver with the following suggested products.

LivaTone Plus is a powerful formula that can support liver function when there are more chronic liver problems. LivaTone Plus combines the proven doses of St Mary’s Thistle with the benefits of Turmeric and Selenium. It also contains all the B vitamins and the amino acid Taurine as well as the antioxidant vitamins C and E. LivaTone Plus is designed to support the step one and two detoxification pathways in the liver.

Glutamine can help support efficient brain function along with Tyrosine Mood Food as Tyrosine is necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy stable mood.

Magnesium Ultra Potent Powder is known as The Great Relaxer and may assist in the reduction of stress, nervous tension, anxiety and sleeplessness.

Glicemic Balance Capsules aid in the metabolism of carbohydrates and supports insulin function and is helpful in curbing sugar and carbohydrate cravings when you are detoxing from alcohol.

 

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.