Final Article on Alcoholism

The best that can be said about these articles about the problems concerning alcoholism is that they give a brief overview.  Hopefully, people who need this information will be led to them by their higher power.  For me, Jehovah is not only my higher power, but also my God. Jesus is the one who was willing to give his life so that you and I could have salvation. 


Perhaps the greatest gift of Alcoholics Anonymous was the admonition that people learn to turn their problems and their addictions over to this power.  Sometimes it is necessary to see the problem as a small box that can be picked up and set on a shelf for God's attention.  When we learn to do this, we can let go of our control needs and leave others to the care of God.


You will note that I do not give attention to the codependency theories.  Frankly, I don't believe in them.  By his own admission, the man who developed the theory was an alcoholic, as was his son.  This man shows alcoholics to be dependent individuals.  If they are, by definition, dependent, then how can they possibly know what it would be like to be an independent functioning nondrinker. 


People don't know in advance of their marriages all the twists and turns that life will make.  There are all kinds of reasons why people don't want to abandon the dysfunctional marriage -- love, children, rules concerning divorce as stated in the New Testament.  One thing I will say is that I once asked my daughter how she had felt when the marriage met it's demise.  She said she was ready for it long before it happened.  And here I was trying to stick through thick and thin for the kids.


I also want to make the point that there is no dysfunction or "codependency" need great enough to make me want to stay and be stuck in such a sickness.  The relief I experienced at the end of my eighteen years was far greater than I could ever have imagined. 


Important as it is to have some dependency on others whether in the marketplace or in relationships, I simply negate the idea that alcoholics and their families are codependent.