I'm in a sort of bind at the moment, one of my old friends contacted me recently after not talking to me for a few years. He was in denial about being bipolar back then, and went off his meds completely, even blaming the meds for his illness. Now his mother is in the hospital with possibly cancerous brain tumors, so it's triggering him and he's definitely in a mixed state, bordering on manic now. I didn't mind talking again with him, I wanted to help him get on the wagon in terms of his mental health. I'm the type who has never really drunk, I never do drugs, and always take my meds, partly because of the horror stories I heard about my absent father and how he always went off his meds and would end up in a straight jacket in the psych ward.
Anyways it turns out my friend doesn't seem to want to get better! He is drinking like 4 to 5 beers or more per day, and taking extra sedatives he had left over from before, and now he is adding weed and codeine tablets to the mix. He has even asked me for some of my Seroquel which of course I will not give him! He seems to think doctors will be okay with his alcoholism and give him all the meds he wants. I don't know what to say, he's also lashing out at me when I mention getting help (he thinks he is getting help, although he's actually not). I bring up detox and he freaks out. I'm staying over at my Mom's at the moment and now she has told him not to call until he goes into detox since she is seeing how upset and involved I am getting. I'm bipolar myself, and although I am medicated it's no cure, as I'm sure many of you know. so I have to be careful with my mood and my surroundings. I also know about addiction, I have suffered in the past from love and sex addiction within my long-term relationships, and I fought hard through that. It's insulting to me that he is so uncaring about his well-being and I struggle every day to stay well, take my meds, and keep fighting. Last night he blocked me online, I was a bit relieved as he was spouting random insults and picking at me and my mother as well. But today he unblocked me and wrote me again, still insulting, and defending his choices and lifestyle and criticizing my healthy lifestyle. What should I do? I'm tired of arguing with someone who gets drunken black outs and who criticizes me when I show the slightest concern. But he's also my friend and I don't want to abandon him as a lot of my friends did when I was initially diagnosed and unwell. It's also making me upset, and making my depression worse, as well as my anxiety. I don't know what to do. . .