Many people simply use the money that is supposed to be used to pay bills, buy food, or make house payments to buy the alcohol they feel they must have. If the alcohol addiction is severe enough, they will cease to care whether or not they are providing adequate nourishment and shelter for their families.
Other people resort to crime, usually theft. They either steal money from their loved ones’ purses or wallets, or steal from fellow employees. Sometimes they embezzle company funds, or steal from the petty cash box or other cash reserves to support their alcohol addiction.
Oftentimes, turning to crime is what brings a person’s alcohol addiction to the attention of others. The person may get caught stealing, at which time he or she has to admit to the fact that the money went to buy alcohol. Fortunately, this being caught is what causes a person to realize that he or she needs help for the alcohol addiction.
The same can hold true for those who neglect their families in order to purchase alcohol. The family’s plight, especially when children are involved, may come to the attention of adults who must act as a “first reporter”; that is, someone who must inform the proper authorities of incidences of suspected abuse or neglect.
Again, although it causes (hopefully) temporary hardship on the family, this can also serve as the catalyst for a person deciding to seek help for the alcohol addiction.
Alcohol addiction treatment centers want to help people enter into alcohol recovery before such negative circumstances occur, however. For this reason, websites such as http://www.alcoholaddiction.org/ and toll-free numbers such as 1-800-559-9503 can provide information on alcohol recovery programs.
