Stop Drinking Now : Confronting an Alcohol Addict

The decision to confront an alcoholic is never an easy one to make. The most important thing is you should never attempt it when the alcoholic is currently under the influence of alcohol. The confrontation should be planned when he or she is sober. Confronting an alcoholic is sometimes called an intervention and must be carefully planned according to recommended expert guidelines, preferably those issued by a knowledgeable organization like Al-Anon which is the support group for family members of alcoholics.

Also, prior to confronting an alcoholic, you should check with the person's doctor or a specialist in treating alcoholic disorders to determine how to prepare yourself and any others who might be helping you to confront a drinker about whom you are concerned. We have listed nine tips that may be helpful in preparing for an intervention.

See what the experts advise by speaking with the Al-Anon association in your area. People there can provide useful resource information as well as advising you on how to plan the. If there is no Al-Anon available in your area try to make an appointment with a licensed therapist, counselor, or psychologist to discuss the problem and how to best approach it.

While in general interventions have similar characteristics, each situation has unique circumstances and each individual has personal characteristics that make each intervention different.

When someone you care about comes home drunk, it can be tempting to let loose and criticize him roundly for being intoxicated yet again. But that will not serve the purpose, as the drunk will tune out the criticism for the time being, or forget about it the next day, when sober, and thus be unable to do anything about it.

It is essential to catch the person when sober, and hopefully when he is in a reasonable frame of mind to hear your concerns. If no spontaneous opportunities occur, you can try to schedule a talk after dinner or at another time when the two of you can be uninterrupted.

Other relatives, close friends, or even members of Al-Anon that you may have met can by your supporters, as they may have been in comparable situations as you at some point. They may even decide to join you in confronting the alcoholic in your family. That decision can depend on you and the circumstances involving the person who drinks too much, as well as professional opinions about the situation.

When the times comes to confront the alcoholic, you must not be wishy-washy or indirect. Use a factual tone of voice and lay out the situation. Use examples of the drunkard's problem behavior and ensuing results. List dates, frequency of bad behavior, amounts of alcohol consumed or sums of money spent on drinking, and other data to support your claims. Please note that it takes courage to confront an alcoholic, so don't back down. If the alcoholic chooses to argue with you, remain calm and point to the facts.

People often enable an alcoholic, allowing him or her to stay in that way by letting them sidestep responsibility and manipulate others to ignore his misdeeds or cover for him at work or in public. If you are one of the enablers the alcoholic may assume he can have his way again to get out of the intervention without making any changes. A huge part of an intervention's potential for success is the family member who arranges it being able to change, too. A person who wants to help must not continue to enable the alcoholic to abuse alcohol. Stand your ground and most importantly, don't let the alcoholic bully or wheedle you into giving up.

Along with confronting the drinker with the effects of his behavior, comes the importance for a recovery plan. Arrangements for rehabilitation program either onsite or as an outpatient at a local clinic or support group can be made with the help of an organization such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Al-Anon or a family doctor. Halfway houses are even available if found to be a viable alternative.

Check first to see is a certain detoxification program will accept the alcoholic you are helping and take the beginning steps for the person to be admitted without any delay after the intervention. When choosing a program, make sure to convey that you cannot guarantee the drinker will not only enroll but stick to the program unless he accepts the program as a part of a new alcohol free life.

It is an emotional process and if the alcoholic agrees to go into a rehab facility, friends and family must provide support and encouragement during the detoxification phase and rehabilitation program, which often involves patient and family counseling. Rehab can last anywhere between several days to several months.

In general, most programs last 28 days or less, given our job and family responsibilities, and in some cases the rehabilitators can continue as a non-resident while resuming career and household responsibilities. Whichever way the program plays out, love, acceptance, and willingness to support changes in lifestyle can go a long way toward helping the alcoholic become successful in kicking the alcohol habit.

As I mentioned above briefly, family members who are living with an alcoholic must also be willing to take responsibility for their own behavior and make any necessary changes, as well. Some required adjustments might include refusing to cover for an alcoholic's inability to go to work by reporting him absent, paying bills that the drinker should pay when he has spent his paycheck for alcoholic beverages, and letting the drunkard abuse or terrorize the family by acts of recklessness or violence.

It is not surprising that sobriety can actually make life harder for the drinker and his family as everyone adjusts to new rules and learns how to follow through consistently. Some alcoholics can be ill- tempered, demanding, and peevish, while others may act guilty, embarrassed, or repentant.

After the intervention you may not see automatic results. The drinker may show indecision between agreeing to rehab and resisting it, or he may enter rehab but leave early or fall off the wagon after completing the program. No behavioral changes are guaranteed. After confronting an alcoholic, the only thing you can do is continue to hold your line and wait for the drinker's response.

That alone will determine the outcome of your intervention. If the drinker opts not to continue treatment or it proves unsuccessful, the family should continue to receive counseling and support as they make decisions about the future.

One of the hardest things to do is live with an alcoholic. Uncontrolled drinking creates problems that affect family members and friends for years. It is often difficult for relatives to disassociate themselves from the alcoholic and establish effective boundaries between his behavior and theirs to avoid unhealthy enmeshment.

However, with education, professional support, and courageous beliefs, family members can learn to practice tough love when confronting an alcoholic to give that person a fair shot at recovery. An intervention may be the first step toward acknowledging a problem and doing something about it that can make a positive difference in the lives of a problem drinker and his loved ones.

Learn how to Stop Drinking Alcohol In 21 Days - Assured by expert Ed Philips and find further help here to help you Stop Drinking Alcohol.