Alcohol, drugs and families: Resources for the holidays

Holidays can be a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration. On the other hand, they can also bring up intense feelings of loneliness, despair, the stress of additional social pressures, and painful family dynamics. Sometimes our coping mechanisms, or those of our friends and family, include alcohol, drug use, or other compulsive and destructive behaviors. It’s important to know where to find local resources right here in our community for people who are affected.

Mercer Island is home to multiple 12-step meetings, and our surrounding communities of Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland and Seattle enjoy thriving recovery communities helping thousands of people every day find new, healthy and joyful ways of living. These communities include AA, SA, NA, OA, Al Anon and ACA, among others.

AA is a program for people who are struggling with alcohol. The only requirement is the desire to stop drinking. Some people who qualify drink during the day, some don’t drink every day but binge now and then, and some are caught off-guard by how much they drank a couple of times per year. Still others regulate their drinking carefully, and even though they are never drunk, find that thinking about drinking and planning about drinking (or not drinking) is taking over their lives.

There’s no one way to have an alcohol problem, but if you think you might, or if you have found that taking a break, or quitting, is not as easy as you thought, AA may be a resource to consider. AA meetings are often welcoming to people with other substance abuse issues, as well. Though there is a spiritual aspect to AA, it is an inclusive fellowship with atheists, agnostics and people of all faith traditions. It’s an anonymous program where people find common ground in their experience with alcohol, and learn tools and hope for a life of emotional well-being, healthy relationships and freedom from alcohol.

Al-Anon is a program for people who are in close relationships with others who are struggling with alcohol or drug dependency. It can feel so hopeless and scary when someone you love and care about is sick, or the effects of their behavior are creating chaos and uncertainty for you or your family. Al-Anon members may be spouses, parents, children, or friends, and come from all walks of life. Addiction and alcoholism are diseases that can bring up shame, loneliness and out-of-control feelings for those close to them. Al-Anon provides a community to not only share experiences, but also to work on specific tools to help gain clarity and navigate these circumstances with a sense of well-being, hope and serenity, whether your loved one continues their behaviors, or not.

ACA is a program for Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families that addresses the ways our families of origin may have left imprints on us that are not helping us create fully expressed, joyful, confident adulthoods. It’s not limited to children of alcoholic families, but also addresses dysfunctional upbringings in families that were very rigid (militaristic, strictly religious), where neglect or abandonment was a feature, or where trauma such as sexual abuse, incest, physical abuse, or psychological abuse occurred. ACA is a safe space to communicate with others who are on a path of recovery from the negative impacts of their alcoholic and/or dysfunctional families of origin.

As the days outside grow darker, and the stresses of the holidays approach, we want you to know there are practical resources and communities of support available for you on your path to health, wellness and wholeness. Please remember that no matter how alone you may feel, each of these communities are safe spaces to meet with others who share your experiences, and that anonymity is a key guiding principle. The neighbors you may see there will be there for similar reasons you are, which can be a comfort, and strengthen the covenant of anonymity you share.

Below are links to find literature, and meetings in the area, including on Mercer Island.

• Alcoholics Anonymous: www.aa.org

• Eastside AA Meetings: www.eastsideaa.org/meetings

• Seattle Area AA 24-hour hotline: 206-587-2838 to speak with a sober alcoholic

• Al-Anon: al-anon.org

• Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families: adultchildren.org

• Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988lifeline.org/

• Narcotics Anonymous: usa-na.org

• Overeaters Anonymous: oa.org

Submitted to the Mercer Island Reporter by a grateful member of the 12-step recovery community from Mercer Island.