How to Deal With a Loved One's Alcoholism
Having an alcoholic family member can be a challenge. There may be many instances where you are torn between letting your family member suffer the consequences of the addiction or helping ease the pain by offering protection and shelter. Yet having a relationship with a loved one who is alcoholic eventually reaches a breaking point where you may have to make some tough decisions. This article will help guide you in how to deal with a loved one's alcoholism.
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Things You'll Need
- Intervention specialist
- Contact with a substance abuse treatment center
Instructions
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How to Deal With a Loved One's Alcoholism
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Figure out if your loved one is truly an alcoholic. If your family member is consistently missing days of work and/or school, is visibly drunk or illegally drinks at work, then you might have a case for alcoholism. There are many alcoholics who can function while drinking but still have impaired judgment and risk their health (and the lives of others) when they get behind the wheel.
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Stop enabling. You might be an enabler and not know it. Enablers allow their loved ones to drink without consequence, despite pleas for them to stop. Enablers will cover up the problem, make public excuses, lie about the family member's drinking and even supply alcohol to the family member just to keep from having embarrassing conflicts. If you do any of these things with your alcoholic loved one, you are contributing to the problem.
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3
Arrange an intervention. According to the Alcoholism and Drugs Addiction Help website, interventions are one of the most beneficial ways to help a person realize that they have a problem. An intervention happens when several close family members or friends get together and confront the alcoholic about how their drinking affects them personally. Usually an intervention specialist associated with a treatment program is present. After all of the family members speak, they ask the alcoholic if he wishes to begin recover today. If he says "yes", the intervention specialist will take the alcoholic straight to a recovery program.
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Decide on whether or not you need to give tough love. In many cases the alcoholic loved one may reject help, still denying that they have a problem. In these cases, family members must realize that they are not responsible for the person getting help or recovering. They must also recognize that this may be a time for tough love and ultimatums. For example, the alcoholic may need to be removed from the home or cut off from a cash supply unless he elects to get help immediately. This can cause temporary conflict, but it may prove to be the best decision for both parties in the long run.
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Offer family support. Once the alcoholic gets into treatment, you must continue to support him in his cause. Don't constantly remind him about his problem if it isn't warranted in a situation or argument. Try to avoid creating situations where the loved one will be tempted to drink.
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