Friend is an alcoholic. Can we MAKE him get help?

mariano rivera

My friend is an alcoholic, possibly a drug addict.

He has been living abroad for some years.

I think he has probably had these substance abuse issues but kind of hidden from us as he was living away

He is home now, and basically drinking himself into oblivion. Taking cocaine so he can drink more.

The last few months have been traumatic for him due to an incident which occured. He did go to a few counselling sessions when he was away but he stopped. He is hitting the drink harder

He looks awful, has not a cent to his name (He is drinking borrowed money)

I am sure lost of people have seen this type of story before

My friends wife broached the subject of AA and he completely denied that has a problem (EVERYONE thinks differently)

So, my question is this

Is there any way we could MAKE him do counselling?

Is there an Irish Intervention services?

Morag

You can't make him.
He has to want to get help and work a program and deal with the issues he is running away from,
For as long as he choses to self medicate with drink there's nothing you can do.
The most you may be able to do is call a dr out to the house to see him but he can refuse to talk to the dr.

TwoShedsJackson

If he's still at the stage where he completely denies he has a problem, there's very little you can do.

flutterflye

Nope, not a thing you can do, sorry.

Just be there to support him, without being an enabler.

It's the sad but honest reality of the matter.

username123

Nothing you can do except be honest with him and dont enable him.

flutterflye

mariano rivera wrote: »

Is there an Irish Intervention services?

Sorry, missed this part of your post.

Yes there are intervention services, but the person has to go to them voluntarily, and there is no knowing of the outcome if you do manage to get them there.

I think the Hanley Center do interventions? Not sure if they're any good.

I was having a similar problem as you op, with a family member a while ago.

And I rang up a helpline, and they gave me loads of helpful info and advice, and pointed me towards websites and local contacts.

I can't remember which helpline I rang, but it was one of these -

- 1800 507 400
- 1800 459 459

SteoL

Well I'll echo what others are saying and say no it is not possible to "MAKE" him get help he needs to do this himself. I had problems with drinking years ago and didn't conquer it until I had admitted it to myself and wanted to change things.

celj

Keep telling him he has a problem.Don't just let him drink on.
Coming off alcohol isn't a nice thing to go through and is a frightening thing for an alcoholic to go through.

The main thing you can do now is keep telling him you are there to help.
He will have it in his head and it's up to him to make the next step.

JimmyCrackCorn

I suggest you use the support services get to an Alanon meeting so you can better understand how this all works.

Its not easy and there are few simple answers.


Best of luck op.