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What You Can Do to Help
What Not To Do…
• Don’t attempt to punish, threaten, bribe, or preach.
• Don’t try to be a martyr. Avoid emotional appeals that may only increase feelings of guilt and the compulsion to drink or use other drugs.
• Don’t take over their responsibilities, leaving them with no sense of importance or dignity.
• Don’t hide or dump bottles, throw out drugs, or shelter them from situations where alcohol is present.
• Don’t argue with the person when they are impaired or high.
• Don’t try to drink along with the problem drinker or take drugs with the drug abuser.
• Above all, don’t feel guilty or responsible for another’s behavior.
What To Do…
• Try to remain calm, unemotional, and factually honest in speaking about their behavior and its day-to-day consequences.
• Let the person with the problem know that you are reading and learning about alcohol and other drug abuse, attending Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, Alateen, and other support groups.
• Discuss the situation with someone you trust—someone from the clergy, a social worker, a counselor, a friend, or some individual who has experienced alcohol or other drug abuse personally or as a family member.
• Establish and maintain a healthy atmosphere in the home, and try to include the alcohol/drug abuser in family life.
• Explain the nature of alcoholism and other drug addiction as an illness to the children in the family.
• Encourage new interests and participate in leisure time activities that the person enjoys. Encourage them to see old friends.
• Be patient and live one day at a time. Alcoholism and other drug addiction generally takes a long time to develop, and recovery does not occur overnight. Try to accept setbacks and relapses with calmness and understanding.
• Refuse to ride with anyone who’s been drinking heavily or using other drugs.
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