Have you read the self-help manual?

Have you read "Self-help manual for relatives to substance abusers"?
It would be fantastic to hear your thoughts about it! Please give a review at Amazon!  It'll help other relatives too! 

Click here to leave a Review! 

Here is some reviews about the Self-help manual:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone who has a substance abuser in their lives
I found Carina Bang’s book by chance and I am glad that I did. It was a game-changer for me. As if it opened a door within me, it was an AHA moment. It contains simple and powerful exercises, you must answer questions like what you want to change in your life. I knew what I wanted to change. I wanted to feel safe and secure. I wanted to live without fear, without threats from my alcoholic father. I could not make my mother divorce him, but I could change *my* approach.
 
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
Great book. Easy and quick to read. Exercises are helpful. I certainly recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 starsFive stars for this manual! 
I can really and truly recommend this manual, I think it'll be helpful for every person being a relative/friend/spouse to someone suffering from alcohol- or drug abuse. Both when it comes to helping the person, but also helping oneself... I think that was the most rewarding part by reading it!  

5.0 out of 5 starsVery thoughtful guide.   
This manual presents information in a way that really makes one think and consider how one approaches life. Very helpful in dealing with someone who has a problem with substances and how to cope and actually grow in ways that I would not have imagined possible with the use of a book. Thanks!
  
5.0 out of 5 starsBrilliant, highly recommend this book!
Highly recommend this book if you live with anyone who suffers from substance abuse but also perhaps if you live with people with mental illness or disabilities. Many books address the needs of the patient, very few books address the need of the carers. This book does so brilliantly. Carina says .. liberate self from what we cannot control .. give self the freedom to live, grow and enjoy life .. care about and love people ... but not at our own expense.
It is a workbook and little by little, step by step it will help you to regain and enjoy your life, even as a relative of a substance abuser

Last day to download the free self-help manual!

Oooops! Today is the last day to download my book Self-Help For Relatives of Substance Abusers for free here!

All you have to do is download the Kindle app. After that you can order the book through Amazon.com. And don't forget to write a review if you find the book useful, it would help a lot! :)

Practical Tips to Help a Substance Abuse

If your family member is a substance abuser, it can make your life a living hell. If you are a parent, you lose your confidence, your hope in the future. You may believe that your kid’s drug habit is your fault. You feel guilty and ashamed. Above all, you feel powerless. You think that you failed your kid. You want to do something, but you do not know how.

If you are a partner or a child of a substance abuser, you never feel safe. You are maybe afraid that your family member may physically abuse you. Sometimes they might abuse you. When they are drunk, they are not themselves. As if they were not the loving, good person whom they once used to be. You barely can recall happier times when your parent or partner was sober and kind. Sometimes you just want to get rid of them. You want them to leave the family and move far away, you do not want to meet them ever again. When you have these thoughts, you feel terrible, because you gave up on your family member.

When you warn your family member that their substance abuse is not okay and they need treatment, they shrug it off. They say they do not need help, they just need another drink or some more “stuff”. When they are drunk or “high”, they are happy. They have an illusion of safety, confidence and having a good time. Their problems go away, or if they do not, they do not matter anymore. Substance abusers do not want to return to a harsh reality where they have to face challenges, depression, failures, consequences of their mistakes, and, of course, angry and estranged family members.

However, there are moments when they do know that they are addicts and they need help. When they open up about it, they may surprise you how clearly they can see their problem. They tell you that they know they should seek help, but they are afraid of going to a “rehab”. A “rehab” is something that many people with addiction dreads. Their addiction is how they escape stress, so, of course, they are afraid of mental and physical suffering. So, in a beat, they may snap back into their drug cravings. They do not change anything at all. You feel disappointed, furious and sad. After a while, you will never believe their promises that someday they will change. You think they are no-hopers. But remember that there is hope of recovery for everyone.

Tips to Help their Recovery

·      Educate yourself. Gather information. Learn about alcohol, different drugs, and their effects on substance abusers.

·      Do not blame yourself. It is natural that you cannot handle this rough and sensitive situation. It is a tough situation, even for professionals who hold a degree in dealing with substance abusers.

·      Tell your affected family member that you hope they will seek help. Tell them that you love them but you do not love what the drug does to them.

·      Do not blame your loved ones for their substance abuse. Do not nag at them, do not point out how they failed in life and how they make everyone’s life miserable. This is what every family member considers impossible. You cannot help blaming a substance abuser when they have outbursts, when they are a threat to your well-being. You do not have to tolerate their drug habits. Tell them that you still remember the good times, you remember who they are when they do not drink or use drugs. Let them know that you still love them. Encouraging, meaningful words help much more than calling your loved one a drunken pig.

·      “Helping them” does not mean that you should give them money to support their drug habits. Set boundaries and stick to them. You are not the one who should take care of the consequences. The person who created the problem should deal with the consequences. It makes them realize that their substance abuse is a big problem. Urge them to seek help.

Do you think this blog will help someone else? Please, share it!

Self-Help Manual: To help you as an relative

Through the support of the book "Self-Help Manual For Relatives of Substance Abusers", the hope is for the reader to come closer to the goals and dreams that they have. The book provides the perspectives of the relative's situation, and contains self-help exercises for the reader. It is for those who want to start a gradual process to a larger well-being.  

These are some things that people have told me about how the self-help manual has helped them:

• "Before reading the book I didn't feel strong enough to tell my relative how i felt, but now I have the courage and the strength to bring up sensitive topics."
  
  

  "The exercises in this manual have made me understand some things about my own behavior, and about my relative who is a substance addict. It has made me think differently."

  "I have made a huge progress. My distress over my mothers substance abuse is all in all gone."

  "The manual is comforting and something that I can go back to and read whenever I want."
  "It has helped me understand more about my substance abusing relative, but also about my self and my own needs
  
  

  "The self-help manual feels like a trusted friend that I can come back to if I need to".

  "I'm not dwelling on things that have been as much anymore, the things I did wrong, what I could have done differently and so on.""I got a new picture of what I can change and what is my responsibility, and what isn’t. It has also changed the way I communicate with my relative with alcohol problems"

Read more about the self-help manual here.