Families dealing with drug and

alcohol addicts

After a hundred drunken episodes, lost jobs or failed marriages, the addict or alcoholic usually seems to remain relatively oblivious to the misery that he is causing his loved ones. Aside from the occasional mumbled apology, or the brief moments of self-pity, it appears that he takes very little accountability or responsibility for his actions. It is the family that always suffers most...not the addict.

If an addict becomes too uncomfortable, he can always just ingest another pill, take another drink, or smoke another joint to "make it all go away" leaving you to feel the consequences once again. It is you, the family, that stays up all night when he’s "out with the boys" again. You are the one who feels unwanted when your husband is passed out on the couch again. You are the one who feels the pain of another lost job or failure. The family members are the ones that suffer the most, and the family has been harmed as a result.

Statistically most drug addicts or alcoholics don't get sober. The idea that one day most alcoholics or addicts wake up and eventually "figure it out" is a fallacy. The alcoholic or addict is usually the least qualified to know how much trouble he is in. Some end up in jail, some overdose or die in automobile accidents, some commit suicide. Some just continue on and on, slowly fading away...the long goodbye. Most never find sobriety and the family waits for a miracle. Sobriety almost always begins when an outside event occurs that causes an alcoholic or addict to look differently at their life. Sometimes it is after the loss of a job, or a divorce, or when they lose custody of their children. Sometimes it is after they lose everything and end up on the streets. But sobriety doesn't have to begin that way. The addict doesn't have to take it all the way to the bottom, for sometimes the bottom is irreversible. Recovery can begin with you...the one who loves them. This is what an intervention is about.