Dealing With Relatives Suffering From Alcoholism Or Drug Abuse

Posted by Tyler Douglas on Mar 15, 2010

The biggest sin that one can commit against an alcoholic is to do nothing, to stand on the sidelines and watch as a mighty alcohol laden monster ravishes one more victim into submission. They tell themselves things like “If someone is not ready for help or change, then there is nothing anyone can do about this problem.” This is a common myth.

Sometimes, they need to be told that alcohol and drugs are taking over their lives. As is common with most addictions, the addicts find it very difficult to actually see that they have a problem. It is only once they have been told that they have problem that they can then confront the problem and seek treatment by going into rehab or joining an appropriate group.

It is important to understand why it is so difficult. It causes the person intervening, a great deal of anger and frustration. While dealing with an alcoholic or with a drug addict, anger and frustration nearly always dissolves into the person intervening, yelling and screaming at the addict, resulting in more anger and hurt for all. In a hurting family, that is the last thing that is needed, hurt compounded upon hurt.

The step of confronting an alcoholic or a drug addict is called intervention, and it is intended to “intervene” with their alcoholism or drug addiction and help them go into rehab, or otherwise encourage them to seek treatment. However, an alcohol or drug intervention must be planned correctly in order for it to work effectively. If an intervention is not correctly implemented, the person being confronted may misinterpret the intentions in a negative manner, which can make the alcoholic or drug tendencies even worse.

Choosing to confront a friend or family member about a drug or alcohol addiction is an extremely difficult decision to make, but sometimes it just has to be done. You should at least make sure that the confrontation/intervention goes well.

The first question you need to ask yourself, before confronting someone with a drug or alcohol addiction problem, is does he/she know that they have a problem? Sometimes, people do know that they have a substance addiction, but they have either chosen not to do anything about it or live in denial, or they simply can’t do anything about it because the addiction is so strong and overpowering. Of course, the person may not even be aware that they have an addiction issue. This can make a difference in how you should confront the addict.

It is absolutely critical to understand that individuals with drug or alcohol addictions generally tend to have emotional instability, due to the substance altering their brain chemistry. Of course, the addiction itself may be due to an underlying mental or emotional issue which can further complicate things during the confrontation. As such, you need to be very careful in how you handle the confrontation so that it does not provoke them into feeling insecure, vulnerable or as though they are being criticized.

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