Enabling has always been an addiction, it just was one of them addictions no one dare ever talk about…It has the same impulsive/compulsive nature to it, has the same need for secrecy and protection, it causes a chemical reaction in the brain, it causes people to make bad choices, it causes physical, mental and spiritual sickness…there is a lying aspect, there is a danger aspect, there are levels people go down knowingly rationalizing they are ok and there is nothing wrong with them…enablers think they are fine just like the addicts in their lives do…enabler think they don’t have a problem, just like an addict would.
But OMG the thought of any parent helping and or contributing to their child’s habit was unfathomable and it still is in many ways.
I know the commercial I was cheering when I first saw it…I would have liked to see the parent giving the kid cash but when the it got to the child’s hand it was a bag of drugs, just to break down the denial further and really show the truth…
Over the years and it has been many for me, I have found that the most loving and caring parents, who really want the best for their children wind up doing and saying the most unloving, harmful things. It is just so very sad…