View Single Post
Old 04-04-2012, 07:46 PM
  # 2 (permalink)  
tjp613
Member
 
tjp613's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Land of Cotton
Posts: 3,433
If you've ready any posts at all around here you've surely run across this:

You didn't cause it.
You can't control it.
You can't cure it.

These are hard Truths and take some time to digest.

After we realize that we can't control or cure our loved one's addiction, then our task is to decide what we want for our OWN lives. If we accept our loved ones just as they are, without any expectation of change, we must decide if we want to live this type of lifestyle.

There is more to consider, however. The big thing about addiction/alcoholism is that it is a progressive disease, meaning that without treatment things will change and get worse over time. The best book I've read that describes most of the physiological changes and some of the psychological ones is Under the Influence by Milam and Ketchum. Very educational and eye-opening. I highly recommend it. (After reading it I also cut waaaaaaaaay back on my own drinking from 10-14 glasses/week to about 1-2 glasses/week.)

Of course the book Co-Dependent No More by M Beattie is equivalent to the Bible around here which teaches us how to stop allowing other's problems become our own and how to establish healthy boundaries.

Welcome to SR -- you have friends here!
tjp613 is offline