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Staying on the wagon is hardly a joking matter for many during the holiday season. The barrage of festivities — office parties, family gatherings, happy hours — can test the strongest-willed person.
“The holiday season is ushered in on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving,” Muriel Van Houten, intensive outpatient therapist at St. Mary’s Hospital in Livonia, says. “Thanksgiving is the biggest night of the year for drinking.
“Let’s face it. Our culture revolves around drinking, especially during the holiday festivities.”
So, how can people with alcohol problems avoid relapsing during the party season?
Van Houten says people must remind themselves what it was like during their drinking days.
According to National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 70.1 percent of Americans drank alcoholic beverages in 2015. The NIAAA defines alcohol abuse as a pattern of drinking in one or more of the following situations within a 12-month period: failure to fulfill major work, school or home responsibilities; drinking in dangerous situations such as while driving a car or operating machinery; having recurring alcohol-related problems (arrests for drunken driving or for fighting while intoxicated); and continuing to drink despite relationship problems caused or worsened by drinking.“Most people don’t come into Alcoholics Anonymous because they are having a good day, the sun is shining and all is wonderful in the world,” says Mark A., a recovering alcoholic in AA, which has 2 million members. “No, they come to AA because their life is fucked up, the judge sent them, the wife is on their back or they are sick and tired of being sick and tired of waking up next to ugly people.
“In all seriousness, people wanting to stay sober need to have a program of recovery by going to meetings, finding a sponsor and following the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
During the holiday season, AA offers 24-hour alcathons at various locations in metro Detroit. Alcathons are meetings held on the Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day.
The AA hotline is available 24 hours a day by calling 313-831-5550
Van Houten says counselors at St. Mary’s encourage patients to keep a proactive self-protection plan.
“We tell patients to go to more meetings and have a dialogue with their sponsor,” says Van Houten. “Patients need to be thinking about what it used to be like while drinking and choosing to be different this year by not drinking and staying sober.”
Editor's note: This story was updated with current information and resources on Dec. 7, 2018.
Check out more Holiday Survival Guide stories:
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Season for sharing
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Giving on the cheap
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Blue for Christmas
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Presents from tinsel town
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Avoiding Xmas bling bling
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Jingle boots
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Oh, holy naught
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Overcoming hangovers
A dilettante's guide to holiday imbibing.
