Answering the Question ‘My friend is an alcoholic – Help!?’

Here a good question I found in the comments section of a previous post. ‘veruca salt’ asks us the question: One of my closest friends is an alcoholic. I have been friends with her many years and didn’t realize until she recently found out she has very severe liver problems that she is in fact a “functioning alcoholic”. She told everybody that she was going to give up drinking but she in fact for the past 5 months has continued drinking behind everyone’s back. She has been in hospital twice after seizures and has been told by her husband to leave the house if she continues drinking but even after going to AA meetings and a brief stint in rehab she continues to drink behind everyone’s back. She wants to come and stay with me but I refuse to have her in the house while she is drinking. I feel mean but I don’t know what to do anymore. Her husband is going for custody of their young child as he is at his wit’s end. She has no-where to go as her family has virtually disowned her. I fear for her but I also don’t want to compromise my own health as I work full-time and have siblings with mental health issues that are ongoing and I feel exhausted. Any suggestions? Many thanks. Answer: I’ve been sober for 10.5 years, and I can tell you this. I quit drinking only when I decided I wanted to. Until then, absolutely nothing helped. I mean, how could it? The whole thing is about motivation. Whether you call a...
Source: Addiction Recovery Blog - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Alcoholic Recovery Source Type: blogs