After Dry January: What to do with what you learned?

I want to follow up on the topics raised a few weeks ago in this column about Dry January. If you were hoping I wouldn’t circle back around to the issues of addictive and compulsive disorders, I can tell you that you are not alone.

While it is ultimately sabotaging to avoid looking at and discussing scary or uncomfortable topics, it is understandable when we think about how much effort we put into keeping the people and the things we love close to us.  

We’re afraid that we might lose something or someone we want, or, conversely, that we might get something that we don’t want if we talk about things directly. It takes a massive amount of courage to try to change our own behaviors, or to help another change theirs.

Before we explore how to talk to others about any concerns we might have about them, I want to revisit the questions I suggested you ask yourself in the Dry January column. After listing several common addictive/compulsive substances and behaviors, I challenged you to consider broadening the idea of Dry January to include things other than alcohol.

I then asked you to reflect on what it was like for you to attempt to pause or intervene with any of those you identified for yourself.  

Perhaps it was easier than you imagined it would be, or perhaps it was harder. Perhaps you discovered that you could not meet your goal at all.

If you found it difficult, or even impossible, to fully meet your Dry January goal, I invite you to look at the experience simply as information.

One of the criteria used to identify a substance use disorder, per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, is having persistent and unsuccessful efforts to quit or cut down on their drinking or using. 

Other criteria include taking substances in larger quantities or for a longer period of time than intended, drinking or using in physically dangerous situations, increasing tolerance, and experiencing withdrawals, social and role impairment, interpersonal problems, cravings, and significant time spent thinking about, using, or recovering from the effects of the substance, among others. 

If you are questioning your own substance use, you can easily look up the criteria yourself. Based on the number of criteria you meet, you will see that you may fall into either the mild, moderate, or severe category.

And while these are the specific criteria for substance issues, you can see how the descriptions above could also pertain to other behavioral problems like anger, eating disorders, shopping, work, gambling, people-pleasing, etc.

Now that you have more information, what do you want to do with it?

It took courage to make an honest assessment of yourself. For those of you who determined that some level of disordered drinking, using, or behaving fits the criteria, then I ask you to use the momentum built by gathering the information to take the next step and talk to someone about it.

As with any medical problem, the longer it takes to address it, the further it progresses and the more difficult it becomes to treat.

And just to be perfectly clear: substance use disorders and mental health challenges ARE medical issues.

Now that we’ve taken the time to consider how to have an internal dialogue about these topics, next time we’ll think about how to talk with others we care about when we see them hurting or progressing with their own challenges.

Sarah Hills, LPC, CAS, CAI, has a master’s degree in community counseling and the certification required by the state of Colorado as a certified addictions specialist at the supervisory level. She is also a certified ARISE® Interventionist. She is office-based in Estes Park and can be reached by phone at 720-250-6610. Click here to review her website.