Day 339: When Someone You Love Has a Drinking Problem

It could be your mother, father, spouse, or one of your kids, but when someone you love has a drinking problem, you might want to come in and try to solve their problem. You can offer support, books, stage an intervention, but the truth is not easy to hear: There is nothing you can do to save the person you love.

You can throw all your energy and time into trying to help the person, but you can’t solve their problem.

Addiction is not to be trifled with.

Someone may promise you that they’ll stop drinking, they might mean it too, but then fall back into drinking.

Unfortunately, our society has glamorized drinking and even made it more acceptable during the pandemic.

With 2020 being filled with so many problems, it’s easy to see why people want to escape from reality.

But trying to drown one’s troubles away with alcohol only exacerbates the problem.

No matter how much you might want someone to stop drinking, you cannot make them do so. You can offer them your support as they get treatment, but you cannot solve their problem.

When you love that person, the best thing you can do is to set a strong boundary between yourself and the person you love.

If you want to help the person, the best thing you can do is to make certain that you take care of yourself. Self-care is critical. If you are not taking care of yourself, then you will not be at full strength to be support of the person you love.

They have a drinking problem and you will need to handle accepting the truth: You cannot save them.

Can you accept that?


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