The blame game is all bundled in with lying, and alcoholics blame everyone else but themselves and their drinking for their problems so that they can deny that there is a problem and avoid having to do anything about it.
• Alcoholics will often blame other people or situations in order to avoid admitting that they are the one with the problem and that they do have to get treatment and help in order to recover.
• The idea of never having a drink again can be an incredibly hard thing to face, and putting the blame elsewhere can be so much easier, and allows the addict to keep on drinking. For the addict, alcohol isn’t a problem, it’s a solution to get them through the day and to allow them to face any emotional problems, and the idea that this simply isn’t true can be a terrifying and intolerable thing to cope with.
• Change can be frightening and facing their problems and going to alcohol rehab to start on the road to recovery can be a change too far for many alcoholics. It’s easier to carry on down the same path and place blame on anyone and anything else.
• The out of character way that an addict can behave when they are drinking heavily isn’t necessarily something that they won’t remember in the morning. All too often, an alcoholic knows exactly how badly they’ve behaved, they know how much they’ve hurt people and made a fool of themselves, and they feel shame and embarrassment at what they’ve done. The chance to blame outside situations and other people can be extremely tempting when the addict can tell themselves a comforting story that it wasn’t really their fault.
The alcoholic has to get to the point where they face up to and admit that they have a problem and they need help. They can then move past blaming everyone and everything but themselves and start to work on recovery and taking back control of their own lives.