akrasia

Hiya,

So AH asked for my help in getting into detox. At first I was like, "Yeah, you don't seem to have trouble getting into the pub--if you really want to check into a detox programme you'll do so."

But having spoken with him today it does in fact sound as though he's not getting access to care, after having reached out for it. He's gone to see his counsellor Tony for the last three weeks and each week he's said he wants to stop drinking and he's asked for medically supervised detox. (Given his health history and the length of this current binge, he fears a heart-attack if he does his usual cold-turkey overnight detox.)

From what AH said, his counsellor has told him he has to fulfill certain requirements before he can get into NHS detox. Keeping a drinking diary, getting blood tests, maybe something else... AH wrote a list for himself but lost it--evidently he asked counsellor to text him with reminder of what's needed but AH hasn't heard back.

AH is telling me the truth here, we can take that as a given. Even when drunk he's honest to a fault. So it may be parital or second-hand information I'm getting here, but it's accurate.

These requirements, like keeping a detailed diary, seem incompatible with heavy intoxication. AH can barely hold a pencil now, and for some reason his eyes have swelled nearly shut with all the alcohol. I actually found myself agreeing that it seemed weird that AH was asking for help and then being sent away with a bunch of conditions to fulfill, and no support for same.

So I've written an email to his counsellor asking him to email AH a list of things AH has to do before he can be admitted into detox. I've told AH that's all I'm going to do and that he will need to follow up.

Anyone else experience this? I always thought that if a drunk person showed up to an appointment with an addictions specialist and said they wanted to get into detox--they'd, I don't know, get admitted to detox?