Addiction & Recovery

I'll pass on something that somebody once said to me that helped save my life. You need to take care of yourself. You can't make a drinker stop drinking. They have to do that themselves.

I stopped drinking more than eleven years ago. After I got sober - in early sobriety - I started worrying about a close friend who had not stopped. I tried various things - interventions, calling rehab programs, sending him the times/places of AA meetings, begging and pleading with him, talking to his family members, trying to get him to stop. Nothing worked and as far as I know he's still drinking. Eventually I cut ties with him because his late-night drunken dialing was wreaking havoc on my life too.

Other people in recovery counseled me to take care of myself.

I have family members with drinking problems and I'm having to make some tough decisions right now. I keep remembering what others shared with me. You have to take care of yourself because really there isn't much that you can do to help an alcoholic. They have to make up their minds to do it themselves.