How to Live With an Alcoholic?

Video Transcript

"Hello! I'm Dr. Bernardo Savariego. I'm a medical doctor specializing in addiction psychiatry in Miami, Florida. Let's talk about how to live with an alcoholic. Actually, one question I'm always asked is how do I stop my dad, my husband, my wife from drinking and the answer to that question is that you can't. I think that the first thing you have to realize is that you cannot control the drinking. They are going to stop when they want to stop. It's not really up to you, it's not your fault. So, the first thing is to stop being a victim of the situation because it's really not your fault, the person, there's a number of very complicated reasons why the person becomes an alcoholic and it's not your fault. Now, the biggest mistake is to enable the drinker. I mean you can protect them from the consequences of their drinking. The tendency is to call their boss to give excuses about their being late for work and to cover up and lie to family members about why you couldn't make it to the dinner or to the party but by denying and protecting the person, you're enabling them. You are making them avoid the consequences and taking responsibility is the only thing that eventually going to make them stop. They have to take the consequences of their drinking and decide that alcohol is being damaging to them and that they have to stop."