Seren

NEW! Family Members of Addicts and Alcoholics - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

"This forum is specifically for family members. Parents, Sons and Daughters, Siblings, etc... This forum will be a safe place to discuss the unique issues we face when having an addicted family member."

I think this will be a welcome addition!

happybeingme

Bump

53500

So this new sub-forum is for blood relatives only, right? Not spouses or people related by marriage?

Refiner

Will the name of this forum be changed to say only "Friends"? What if you have both? This is confusing. Perhaps it's being sliced and diced too thin IMO.

dandylion

:accb

:Refiner....I don't know, of course...but, I "think" that it will sift itself more or less naturally.
It seems to me that the overwhelming majority on this forum is composed of partners of the alcoholic.
I have a feeling that the newer one will become composed mostly, of those suffering the pain of the parent/child relationship....and, then some of the extended family variety.
At least, that is what I am VISUALIZING in my own mind.
My qualifier is my adult son. I sometimes think about how there is a difference between my pain as a parent as opposed to that of a partner or spouse---even though there is a ton of overlay in lot of areas!
It looks, to me, like there will always be overlay, to some extent between the groupings
when we experience the pain of dealing with addiction at any level in our lives. It does bite all of us.
I think it is good, though, if we can go to a place where the specifics feel a bit more familiar to us.
In any case, I am grateful for the new sub-forum. I am looking forward to how it goes.

Refiner, your point is well taken, by me,......because my first thought was "How are they going to name this new one?"

Refiner

Ha ha maybe confusing to ME bc of all the areas it has affected my life as having A's as parents, extended family, sibling, friends, and ex-spouse!

dandylion

Refiner...LOL! I think that there are a lot of people that this applies to, also!

dandylion

Morning Glory

Thanks dandylion. That was a great explanation.

The Friends and Family forums are general forums open to everyone affected by someone in their lives with addiction. So it continues to be for Friends and Family because all are welcome.

I really did sit for a few minutes trying to figure out a name for the new forum so it wouldn't be confusing and couldn't come up with anything.

We just had a brand new member find it so I think it will be okay.

Refiner

So is the new forum for spouses only? Only blood relatives?

Morning Glory

I guess you could say blood relatives, but that would include step-family members.

Parents, Sons and Daughters, Siblings

Seren

When I first joined SR, I was driven here because the son of the man whom I was dating was an out-of-control alcoholic. So, I was in no way related to the young man except that his father and I were dating with marriage in mind for some time in the future. We are now married, and this young man is my stepson.

The vast majority of members in this Friends and Family of Alcoholics forum are spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends of someone who drinks alcoholically. Those of us who don't fall into that category have a tendency to be drowned out by sheer number.

This forum, "Friends and Family of Alcoholics", is open to everyone and anyone whose life is being affected by someone else's alcoholism:

• husband or wife, son or daughter, mother or father, brother, sister, stepchild, grandchild, cousin, aunt/uncle, or even coworker.
• it is open to those who use faith or no faith, 12-steps, no 12-steps, counseling, no counseling, or those who just use SR.

The new forum that MG has created is especially for us to share our stories and support one another in our relationships that are familial but not romantic in nature.

If you are, well, 'blessed' to have both familial and romantic relationships with active or recovering alcoholics, please don't hesitate to use both forums. We would love for you to do so!