What can family members do? Excerpt from "Sober for Good" by Anne M. Fletcher

Anne M. Fletcher has written about the family's power to help an addict in her book "Sober for Good". Here is a summary of what she writes:

The family and friends of an addict do actually have the ability to help out, contrary to what many believe. It all depends on how it is done.

When Elena started to drink too much her husband Brett would try to hide the bottles from her. Brett made their son Glen watch out for when Elena was drinking and throw out any alcohol he would find, something that is very stressful for a child. However, none of these efforts ever really helped, and Elena would still drink. Glen says he doesn't think anything helps until the addict themself is ready. Elenas emotional response to her husband's and son's nagging was to get annoyed, regretful and in the end she just wanted to drink more.

What finally made Elena get sober was when her son expressed how sad he was because of her addiction and his worry for her wellbeing. All other attempts to get Elena sober had been done with anger, and that had never gotten through to her.

As a relative, you can never force the addict to become sober, but you can always be supportive and honest, attempts that will take you further!