The more an alcoholic knows about alcoholism, the greater are the chances that he or she will acknowledge insight in his or her own past behavior so that it can be changed.

While the processes of rationalization, projection and repression are unconscious ones, reports of behavior during the alcoholic phase by relatives will show that they did occur.
These events, with the subsequent distortions in the perception of the world by alcoholics, have to be realized and accepted before change can occur.

For alcoholics to accept their disease, they have to stop rationalizing, justifying and blaming others for their drinking or for their failure to cope.

If they fail, if they make a mistake or if they can’t solve a problem they have to admit to themselves honestly and directly, that they have failed. They made the mistake and they couldn’t solve the problem.

They must accept that it wasn’t the fault of anyone else, such as the boss, the system, the spouse or the wicked practices of others. Rationalization leads to greater chaos because it gives the user of the process a false picture of reality. This further chaos leads to projection of self-hate onto others and to a further distortion where repression and memory changes occur.

Some patients are very difficult to counsel if they haven’t “thrown in the towel” and accepted the fact that they are the ones with the problem. They are the ones “out of step with the world” not the other way around. They point the finger at others and forget that there are three more fingers pointing back at themselves. They have to give in to win.
They have to learn to cope and to face reality. Undoubtedly, the real world contains many nasty people, lots of unpleasant things can occur and they can be hurt by those whom they trust.

Alcoholics are, by nature, very sensitive people and over-react to the simple nuisances in life.

Nothing can be as bad as drinking alcoholically. Being an alcoholic is like living in a nasty fantasy-land where the alcoholics hate themselves and everyone around them, where crisis follows, and where there is no hope, no relief and no end in sight.

If alcoholics stop drinking, learn to cope with anything that crops up and return to the real world where, no matter how bad things may be, there is hope for a better future. This can be achieved by carefully thinking about how to cope with any given situation, by assertion of rights and by not worrying about what others think of them.

Problem solving skills can be learned and applied to anything that poses a threat to their sobriety. Whenever you are emotionally upset, ask yourself these 4 questions:

  1. Is this life threatening?
  2. What exactly am I troubled about? (Is it fact or fiction?)
  3. How important is it? (Will it still bother me in 6 weeks ‘time?)
  4. If it is important, what am I going to do about it?

This is how patients may be guided through problem solving.

Learning to cope successfully negates the need for projection (fear of the future) and repression by suppressing their emotions.  The longer the alcoholic stays sober, the longer he gains confidence in problem solving and his or her self-esteem rises, so there is no need to protect the ‘self’ against the knowledge of continued failure. Self-hate will not build up, so it can’t be projected onto others. In other words, for those who learn to cope, there is no need for them to reach for the bottle. A return to drinking will mean a return to not coping.

As well as 100% vigilance, you need to take care of your nutrition and dietary supplements. I recommend Tyrosine Mood Food, necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy, stable mood. Tyrosine is required for the manufacture of adrenalin in the adrenal glands and most alcoholics suffer with adrenal exhaustion.

The state of your liver has a big impact on your state of mind so that those with a fatty liver may find themselves irritable and moody with a poor memory and difficulty keeping up with life’s demands. Depression and poor sleep may be associated with a fatty liver and these things resolve when we improve the liver function. We recommend Livatone Plus, a more powerful formula that can support liver function when there are more serious liver problems due to alcoholism.

L-Glutamine is an amino acid and has been shown to improve brain function in alcoholics, resulting in improved sleep, decreased anxiety and a reduced craving for alcohol. Glutamine supplementation can be found in our Ultimate Gut Health.

Vegetable juice has been successfully used to clear out fatty livers too. Juicing, along with the above supplements, B-vitamins (in Livatone Plus), Vitamin C, Serrapeptase and Vitamin E may be a real long-term help with cirrhosis of the liver.

Magnesium Ultra Potent can be taken before bed to assist with a deep and restful sleep. It also helps to reduce stress, very beneficial to a recovering alcoholic.  Magnesium is also known as the “great relaxer”.

Dr. Cabot’s book, Help for Depression and Anxiety, is an excellent read for recovering alcoholics.

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