Many think that when their loved one stops drinking, life will go back to the way it was before they had a problem. It can't ever go back there.
The reason your loved one started drinking in the first place hasn't disappeared along with the drink. It is still there and they will need time and patience to work their way through it no matter if it is with a counsellor or AA or in a rehab facility.
The old person you knew is still there but the fact that they must give up something that they have relied on to get them through life, even though in your eyes it wasn't much of a life, is tough. They may forget the time before they drank and that person could be a stranger to them. They might want that. They may not want to be reminded of that person if it was them who needed to drink in the first place.
In time, with talk, support and love you will see someone you recognise. They will need to adjust, they will feel remorse and shame for everything they put you through and that will take time.
It will take you and everyone around them time to heal and it will be scary. There is always the threat of a relapse but you can deal with that if it happens.
Just be thankful they have stopped, whatever it takes to maintain sobriety, you have to understand and know that there can be a time when normal looks much better than it has for a while.
The reason your loved one started drinking in the first place hasn't disappeared along with the drink. It is still there and they will need time and patience to work their way through it no matter if it is with a counsellor or AA or in a rehab facility.
The old person you knew is still there but the fact that they must give up something that they have relied on to get them through life, even though in your eyes it wasn't much of a life, is tough. They may forget the time before they drank and that person could be a stranger to them. They might want that. They may not want to be reminded of that person if it was them who needed to drink in the first place.
In time, with talk, support and love you will see someone you recognise. They will need to adjust, they will feel remorse and shame for everything they put you through and that will take time.
It will take you and everyone around them time to heal and it will be scary. There is always the threat of a relapse but you can deal with that if it happens.
Just be thankful they have stopped, whatever it takes to maintain sobriety, you have to understand and know that there can be a time when normal looks much better than it has for a while.