Life is not easy but if you’re living with an alcoholic you know that it can sometimes feel impossible. You might feel trapped or hopeless. Perhaps you have been wishing life would be peaceful but, as the years go on, you realize that living with an alcoholic is a tough way to go.
You may find yourself setting aside your own needs trying to help or appease the person who is addicted to alcohol. You may be angry that your life is disrupted. The addict may embarrass you in public or at social events by over drinking or talking excessively. At home, you may feel trapped by a problem that shows no signs of ending.
Perhaps you are shocked at the amount of time, energy and money that is spent on drinking. You find yourself afraid of sudden and unfounded angry outbursts. Even when you get some quiet time at home, you are constantly fearful of what condition your alcoholic person will come home in.
Alcoholics and other addicts are commonly unreliable and unpredictable. Chores do not get done like they used to. An alcoholic may leave the house at any time with an excuse of visiting a friend, when in fact they are going for a drink. An alcoholic may even steal from you to get booze.
Your anger and resentfulness grows while at the same time you want your loved one to be well. You plead and make bargains, you give ultimatums that you don’t keep and you seek help from friends and family but nothing has worked so far.
It isn’t getting better; it’s getting worse because alcoholism is a progressive problem that makes home life increasingly impossible. Even if you are not physically abused, the mental anguish you are going through is a form of abuse that has detrimental effects on you and other family members.
Behind every addict is a family that suffers – often in isolation. The emotional and financial drain can put the entire family under stress. You can wrestle with confusion, not understanding why the alcoholic will not stop exhibiting destructive behavior that puts everyone in the home on edge.
Your life is disrupted. You can’t fulfill your own dreams because you spend your time dealing with chaos and unhappiness that the alcoholic creates. You love the person but living with an alcoholic means that peace and happiness can disappear without a moment’s notice. Your own life is on hold while you try to control the alcoholic.
Although you may feel hopeless and trapped now, please know that there are answers to your problems. Other families have found help and you can, too. The best way to learn about solutions that work is to speak to someone with experience in helping others find solutions to the problems you are having.
Learning how to get past the pain and the feeling of hopelessness and anger is not something you can do alone. You may have tried many things to improve your situation and nothing has lasted.
Learning how to love the addict without enabling the addiction is a great challenge but well worth the effort. There is support, therapies and programs that have helped other families find solutions to the problems that come with living with an alcoholic.
Are you ready to find out what those solutions are? Call us now at (866) 963-7200. We can help. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day to discuss your situation. Talk to us. We understand what you are going through.