Living with an alcoholic can be a tough thing to do. The fact that the person you love is slowly destroying their life is something hard to deal with. This can also push you into severe depression and destroy the happiness in your life. So, if you have a family member who is addicted to alcohol, then the following tips will help you deal with the condition more effectively.
- Check Into A Rehab Program
The first thing to do is to enroll the alcoholic in a recovery program. They will likely be against this at first, but you have to find a way to coerce them into joining a treatment. Such programs are designed to help an alcoholic understand their basic motivations that drive them to become a heavy drinker. And this understanding can eventually make them see the mistake they are committing by being addicted to alcohol. If they display any signs of drug abuse, then you should definitely sign them up at a good drug and alcohol addiction recovery facility for more intense treatments.
- Don’t Try To Control It
It might be tempting to try to control your family member’s alcoholic behavior by yourself. But remember that it is an absolutely bad idea. When you set your mind at controlling their alcoholism, you will eventually have to set up some strict rules that may bring you into direct conflict with the person. And if it ends up in a serious fight, then the person is likely to shut themselves away from you. It is to prevent such interpersonal conflicts that it is advised that you avoid trying to control their alcoholic behavior. Instead, trust the professional therapists to do their job. Plus, if you oppose their drinking too much, then they will start drinking in secret. And this is much worse than drinking openly since you won’t know how much alcohol they are consuming.
- Don’t Expect Too Much
Avoid expecting too much from the alcoholic person since this can put unnecessary pressure on them which can drive them to become more addicted to alcohol. For example, if you sign them up for an alcohol recovery program, then be realistic as to how effective the program will be. If the therapist says that it would take about eight months for the alcoholic to show some improvement, then give your loved one eight months to start showing change. Don’t put pressure on them daily, expecting the person to cut back on alcohol after just two weeks into the program. When they are unable to do so, your disappointment will be a thorn that will cut through their heart. They will start seeing themselves as losers for never living up to your expectations. And eventually, they will start drinking more alcohol out of their self-destructive habit.
- Never Accept Immoral Behavior
Alcoholics have a higher tendency of engaging in immoral behavior. And if the alcoholic is a teenager, then you should be wary of such tendencies. According to reports, an alcoholic teenager is four times likelier than a non-drinker to steal an object outside their house. Their chances of breaking the law and being arrested is seven times more than teenagers who don’t drink. As such, you should be very careful of never indulging in any immoral behavior from their part. Because if you do, then you might push them towards more criminal activities. So, if you catch them stealing money from your purse, reprimand them. Never turn a blind eye towards such actions.
- Don’t Take Their Actions Too Personally
Sometimes, the alcoholic person might say or do something that can hurt your feelings deeply. Be careful of not taking it too personally. Under the influence of alcohol, people tend to lose all sense of control. And they might hurt even the people that are very close to their heart. So, just brush away any such occurrences. If you start taking such negative actions seriously, then it will affect your state of mind. And in turn, the alcoholic may feel depressed at having emotionally hurt you, which can again increase their dependence on alcohol. So, have a strong enough mind to smile away their random insolent behavior.
- Never Enable Them
Finally, never enable the alcoholic. Enabling simply means that you prevent an alcoholic from fully experiencing consequences of their actions. This is bad since you avoid the alcoholic from ever knowing that their alcoholism is creating serious problems. In contrast, when an alcoholic experiences the negative consequences of their actions, then there is a better chance that they will seek to better themselves by getting rid of their alcoholism.
