Advice For Those Who Live With Alcoholics
Author: Ed Philips

Many people choose to stay in relationships with alcoholics. It
is like living in a love triangle. There is you, the alcoholic
and the addiction. You will feel that you really are part of a
love triangle. His/her addiction takes money, time and
attention away from you and from any family you may have.

You may think of an alcoholic as a person who stumbles around
the street, drunk, with a bottle in one hand and money for the
next bottle in the other hand.

This is not often not the case. Many alcoholics lead fairly
normal lives, at least for awhile. They are usually able to
hold a job for a time and may just begin by drinking a little
too much, too often.

When the addiction truly takes hold the person will absolutely
deny there is a problem. Emotional closeness is no longer
possible and there are many other problems as well.

There are several things that may happen in your relationship
and none of them are good.

You will notice inconsistent behavior and fits of violence and
fury are possible. The alcoholic is often irresponsible and can
not be depended upon.

Sexual activity is usually diminished and the alcoholic may
experience constant irritability. You will probably have to
deal with depression and your relationship will never be
stable.

If you decide to try to ignore the fact that your partner is an
alcoholic you will be enabling all of these behaviors to
continue. The person you love is very ill and needs help. All
the understanding, love and patience in the world will not cure
someone who is addicted to alcohol.

When you indulge an alcoholic the person will have no reason to
change. Why would a person who is addicted to alcohol make any
changes when they have someone who continues to be loving and
understanding.

The alcoholic who has someone to make excuses for him/her,
forgive and solve his/her problems has absolutely no motivation
to stop drinking and seek help.

An alcoholic who has someone taking care of all the problems
caused by the addition may tell himself/herself that he/she
will wait until an appropriate moment comes along. He/she will
be able to ignore the illness if a partner is covering all the
bases for the addictive behaviors.

If children are part of the family the situation is even more
difficult and complicated.

The children often take the back seat in the family and they do
not always receive the love and attention they needed. They may
grow up feeling guilty, angry, and afraid.

There are many things you can do if you are living with an
alcoholic. The first part of this series gave you some ideas of
things not to do and Part Two will focus on steps you can take
to improve the situation.


About The Author: Discover how to stop drinking alcohol
permanently, within 21 days guaranteed For more information go
to:
http://www.stopdrinkingadvice.org/2007/02/22/advice-for-those-who-live-with-alcoholics/