I'm sorry you are upset by this thread, Dropsie. Each person's story is unique in the details, but there are some common things many of us have experienced--whether it is a partner, a parent, and child, or a friend who struggles with addiction.
Many of use have not been in this sort of relationship with the alcoholics or addicts we love, but there are those who feel as though their lives have been taken over by someone else's addiction--they've been taken hostage.
The problem for many of us is that we don't realize that we hold the key ourselves to unlocking the chains around us--it's that simple, and that hard--because it hurts so much.