"Her behaviour is swinging from what we know as our lovely daughter to that of screaming, door banging brat."
This is the crux of addiction. If there is one thing I have learned it's that addiction is almost like a split-personality syndrome. I know for myself there are two struggling people in me. The loving son, brother, uncle and then there is the selfish insane addicted part of me that tries to manifest itself by using mood-altering chemicals. It is only through NA and AA that I have been able to arrest the addicted personality and finally bring back my true personality. I think thats why so many addicts wonder what the heck happened after they become sober. They wonder to themselves how many people they hurt over the years and just what the hell they did, because they were not in control of their bodies.
IrishDad I was just like your daughter once and my parents ignored the problem rather than helping me. I don't hold this against them, but they failed to act when it would have been responsible to do so. They knew I was starting to slip, they caught me selling drugs, they saw me come in at all hours of the night higher than god himself, but they just distanced themselves rather than confronting me. They thought that I would come to my senses one day, and that never happened. It never happened because an addict has to hit rock bottom to come to their senses. Nothing short of an overdose or jail is enough to bring a teenager to rock bottom. But as a young adult I have rapidly hit rock bottom and hit it hard.
Chris