iwillriseabove

It was about a woman, her alcoholic husband and their 15 year old son. Very sad to hear the son talk about how he has seen his dad passed out more times than he can count, how he is embarrased to have friends over, how he has never known his dad sober until the past 5 months, and only b/c he has to wear a SCRAM around his ankle, per court order. But the saddest was the 15 year old's collection of vodka bottles on a shelf in his bedroom. He said that each bottle represents a time when he kept his dad from drinking. Basically, he found his dad's stash and poured it out. Very heart-wrenching to think that he could be my kids in a few years.

ohmari

yup, i saw it. very touching and inspiring for me, to see another person my age going though it and surviving.

i hope you gained strength from it!

iwillriseabove

I absolutely did. And just looking at the husband sitting there, sober. He's been sober for 5 months and he just looked absolutely miserable. I agree with Dr. Phil when he said that if it weren't for the SCRAM on his ankle, he would have been sitting there drunk.

ohmari

it kind of makes you wonder if the SCRAM isn't doing more harm than good. sure it stops the person from drinking, but it doesn't resolve the underlying issues, even if the person goes to court-ordered AA. it's easy to block out what you don't want to hear, especially as an alcoholic.

iwillriseabove

Yeah, it has about the same effect as my begging and pleading my AH to go to AA. NADA!

thejig

Yep, I saw it....it was sad about his son....like the Big Book says "warped lives of blameless children". I'm sure a lot of us could identify with that.
It was inspiring though about the sports announcer that got sober in 1992.....goes to show, it's never too late to get sober. As long is there is a heartbeat, there's hope.
AA hugs
Jig

sketscher

Saw it. Chilling. All three of them were so cold and miserable. You gotta respect Dr. Phil for telling em like it is. The "you drink because you choose to" to the husband, "AA is his lifeline" to the wife.

robina

The wife was a major ennabler. She was firmly in denial of her role in that sad family drama.

StandingStrong

I missed the show (which I'm actually glad about).
But I do know that having 3 teenagers myself, I have seen firsthand how an A parent can affect their children. As well as realizing now just how my own codependant ways affected them.
They say that alcoholism is a family disease. True that the affects trickle down through everyone.
Addiction hurts everyone.

reader

Yes, I saw it and I thought it was an eyeopener for many people in denial and alot of just general good info. for the public. The statics were so large and almost everyone in the audience had an alcoholic as a family member.. Dr. Phill and Robin talked of their own horrible childhoods growing up with alcoholic parents. Worth seeing!!

velma929

A few weeks ago, I found myself second-guessing my decision to not have any children. My peers' kids are mostly grown up and all, and my menopause has kicked in. And then I realized that they would have grown up with an alcoholic parent, and realized I had done the right thing for me.