Knowledge and understanding are ultimately the first steps in making progress, and then ultimately healing from an addiction - whether it be to alcohol or drugs - which is something I try and emphasize regularly.

The reason I say this, is because understanding allows you to rid yourself of any preconceived ideas you may have, which are what keep you fixed in a certain way of thinking and thereby prevent you from making progress.

When we have preconceived ideas about something (which many people do when it comes to alcoholism and drug addiction) - we become our own worst enemies in trying to overcome our own/help someone else overcome their addiction problems.

So before you do anything else, stop standing in your own way, and empower yourself with the knowledge you need to get you started on beating alcoholism and drug addiction.

The need to be right is an issue for many of us. Being open-minded can be difficult. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with that - but when dealing with potentially life and death subjects like drug and alcohol addiction, you can’t afford to do that.

A particularly controversial subject around understanding drug addiction and alcoholism is the argument over whether or not they can in fact be regarded as a disease. In the bigger scheme of things, not agreeing with the addiction or alcoholism as a disease argument, shouldn’t prevent you from doing everything you can to beat an addiction - whether your own or someone you love.

Agreeing on the causes of alcoholism and addiction can also sometimes be a contentious issue. Science now shows that genetics plays an increasingly prominent role, but lots of people still don’t believe it despite evidence to the contrary.

To discover more about these topics in a bit more depth - please visit the links shown in the resource box. At the end of the day though - don’t let preconceptions about any of these areas get in the way of doing everything you can to overcome an addiction.