Not everyone thinks this is the season of good cheer.
Alcoholics Anonymous members call the season including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years the “Bermuda Triangle.” It’s like navigating through a maze of quicksand blindfolded surrounded by pit bulls. Out of the goodness of their hearts and in the spirit of the season, everyone is offering generous servings of alcohol.
“It is where the disease is active and almost looks acceptable again to the addict,” says Michael Molthan, a luxury home builder in Dallas and a recovering alcoholic. “It’s a very tempting place for relapse.”
Molthan says he remembers countless holiday meals that shared with his family inebriated or high. When everyone is drinking, it’s very easy to blend in. He found sobriety after his lifelong battle struggling with addiction.
“It is the hardest time of year because we are facing feelings. Resentment is the number one offender. It kills more alcoholics and addicts than anything else, and tends to come to the surface in the holiday season,” says Moulton.
He offers two tips:
- Don’t go to parties where libations will be flowing freely and emotions could be aroused if you don’t have to.
- Have an exit strategy. Have a Lyft or Uber app ready on your phone, or a plan for why you need to leave when the room gets too hot and the noise too loud and the temptations too strong.
Molthan is host of an advice program on iHeartRadio called M2 The Rock Talk Radio.