|
It is a good idea to wait until the alkie's head is clear. Ever try to talk with a drunk? I won't, unless it is a life or death situation requiring maybe some more booze or a trip to the hospital.
Why call on him when he is jittery and depressed? Because at the point the ego is gone. It takes the alcoholic ego about three hours to rebuild and reinvent itself. For an alcoholic at this point, feeling better is a dangerous condition, because in that there is false hope. The more hopeless he feels the better.
As for holding back-I don't know about the early days, but these days, most alcoholics have had some exposure to AA and may have been sitting around AA meetings where we screw them up. They already know everything. Have you ever been to a de-tox meeting? It is usually the chronic relapsers who talk the most, and it is always about what they are going to do "this time." They know just enough to be dangerous to themselves and everyone else.
Jim
|