While Christmas is a time for joy, celebration and excitement, the festive season also brings with it a heightened sense of loneliness and despair, and many people can feel left out.
For those with an addiction, Christmas can be an especially difficult time of year.
These low feelings can, unfortunately, perpetuate addiction.
But the end of a year brings the beginning of another, and with a new year comes hope. Because of this hope, Christmas can be a major turning point for those with addiction.
Addiction and Christmas
During December, alcohol consumption in the UK increases by 41 percent. According to Alcohol Concern, there are an estimated 595,131 dependent drinkers in England, of whom only 108,696 are currently accessing treatment.
Alcohol addiction and Christmas go hand-in-hand. More people are drinking in pubs, celebrating in clubs and drinking at home with their families.
This difficulty with this time of year, however, is that the signs of alcohol addiction can be masked, and your addiction can be excused because it’s the season of indulgence.
It’s no surprise, then, that alcohol consumption increases.
But it’s not just alcohol that should be a concern. Oftentimes, peoples’ usage of recreational drugs can increase over the holidays and, like alcohol, this can cause a dependency issue.
For an addict, then, it can be all too easy to over-indulge, lose control and reach a new low, and what’s worse, it can leave a person with less self-esteem and self-worth than normal.
But this isn’t all bad. This extreme feeling of being out of control can be just the thing needed to make positive change.
The idea of ‘rock bottom’ often spurs an upward trajectory in morale, and it makes a person say, ‘enough is enough, it’s time to address this issue’.
Admitting a problem is the first step to getting help
The first step to overcoming any addiction is admitting the problem.
Whether it’s alcohol and drugs, or mental health issues like depression and anxiety, it’s important to accept your situation if you want to begin moving forward and making a change.
The festive season is a time for community, family and friendship. It’s a time of year when the people around you grow closer, and when the hardships of everyday life like work begin to slow down.
With a new year in sight, Christmas is the right time to face up to issues and begin overcoming them. And to do so requires you to ask for help.
New year, new you
With the right help, you can walk into 2024 with a new face on and take back control of your life.
Addiction should never have to be faced alone, there are professional services to turn to that can help.
The better treatment centres understand the complex relationship families play in addiction. Addiction is very much a family disease and should be treated as such.
By entering into the right treatment programme in 2024, you can conquer any addiction and begin to put the pain of 2023 behind you.
At Camino, our private and secluded location on the southern coast of Spain is the perfect place to rest up over the holidays and get healed for the new year.
If you feel like you just can’t face the festive season and that you do need an escape, talk to us and we can assist you.
We’re not only experts in helping people overcome their addictions, we’re experts in ensuring sobriety is long-term, and that it’s something you can carry forward with you not just into 2024, but through the rest of your life.
