Addiction: How far are you willing to go (expenditure of energy, finances, time) to help someone who is suffering from an addiction?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.So to answer your question, I would help as much as I could without hurting myself
Lyonesse
Level 2
Dec 1, 2017
1
And if s/he is a good friend, would you stop helping if there were a possibility of future pain?
my brother was a heroin addict for a long while, thankfully he is clean now, I tried to help him when he was addicted but tbh it was fairly pointless. Whether it's tobacco, booze, drugs or soaps, an addict will only really stop when THEY want to.
Lyonesse
Level 2
Dec 1, 2017
1
I agree, but if there is just a slight glimmer of hope don't you keep trying?
If they ask me for a ride to a treatment unit I would give them that. Otherwise I think a lot or actions that look like help to the average person ends up to be enabling
btroje
Level 9
Dec 1, 2017
1
Yes, I agree, and it can be heart-wrenching. When do you give up on them?
I guess it depends on how close I am to the addict. I don't think money helps much, and the only way it's effective at all is if the person is dedicated to getting better. I think being supportive in terms of time and energy is more valuable, and if someone especially close to me needed that direct emotional care and anchor, I'd provide what I could.
resserts
Level 8
Dec 1, 2017
2
I've dated two women (not at the same time) that turned out to be alcoholics. I ended up fleeing the scene. I had no way of helping them. It was beyond my understanding and education. I wish I could have done something to help, but I felt it was better to help myself at the time and remove them from my life. It still eats at me sometimes.
I totally get that, @AstralSmoke. You have a responsibility for your own wellbeing, and you can't help others if you're not taking care of yourself. I don't think you have anything to feel guilty for, but I think we all tend to beat ourselves up about things we were unprepared for or that were out of our control. I think the value in that is that we learn from such experiences and they inform us in the future when we encounter similar situations.
@resserts Thanks, somehow I knew you'd understand. "[If] someone especially close to me needed that direct emotional care and anchor, I'd provide what I could."
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