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Old 05-07-2013, 10:50 AM
  # 7 (permalink)  
jmartin
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 102
Welcome onipar,
Sorry you are here, but you're in the right place.

I can only echo what Anvil says, having lived with a using A myself for a long time, I can tell you this is NOT an easy road, and not one I think I would do again if I could go back in time.

As Anvil says, you cannot control her behavior, and from personal experience, trying to monitor or control her drinking will only lead to deception, lying, and more misery. Bottom line is, until SHE decides she has a problem and wants help, there is little you can do to get her to stop. Even then, it can still be very difficult. Helping others is certainly a virtue, but be very careful, many of the "helpful" behaviors actually can make the addiction worse - it allows the behavior to continue, and just makes the helper unhappy. Please be careful about enabling her or sinking into codependency yourself, it is terribly easy to do (ask me how I know).

Naturally, reading more on this site and getting yourself to Alanon is the best course of action. Only you can decide what you want to do, and there are no easy answers or quick-fix recipes. There are those who will tell you that your relationship is so young, it would be best to get away from her, and I cannot say I disagree with that.

I will tell you this - even if she were to admit she needs help and gets into recovery TODAY, this is something that will consume a great deal of your physical, mental, and emotional energy for the next several YEARS, if not the rest of your life together. If you at all question whether you are willing to make her (and your) recovery the principal focus of your life for the foreseeable future, I would seriously consider backing away from the relationship immediately. And that's if she wants help! If she continues to use, or tries to placate you by "cutting back" but not embracing sobriety, I would be willing to bet it will get much, much worse before it gets any better.
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