Families & Friends Of Addicts Support Group

Addiction affects more than just the individual. This community is dedicated to the families and friends of individuals suffering from any form of addiction. Mental health professionals are increasingly considering alcoholism and addiction as diseases that flourish in and are enabled by family systems. Family members react to the addicted person with particular behavioral...

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Help for My sister

sleepyisbes
sleepyisbes
Hello All

My little sister has found ou this week that the man she loves, and has been living with for the past 6 months is addicted to prescription pain medication. She discovered his addiction when the police showed up at thier door to arrest him. Apparently he was selling/making drugs to support his addiction. All of this, he manged to hide from my sister and his family. She is obviously heart broken. He currently is in jail detoxing. Her and his dad have arraged for Rehab as soon as he is released. While she is trying to stay busy with the day to day life stuff. She is struggling to comprehend "how she missed it. How she didn't KNOW." She loves him. I'm sure he loved her. It was obvious to see them together. At the moment she is very lost. She "can't leave him, just because he is sick." Obviously the street drugs make it a slightly different ball game.This isnt something she's ever had to deal with. Or any of her family for that matter. Any insite you guys coupld provide would be amazing. She's trying to figure out where to go from here.....

Thanks!
deleted_user
deleted_user
It is good that they are trying to get him into rehab, and I don't want this to sound harsh but in all honesty rehab will not work for him unless he wants it, because trust me I forced my addict into rehab several times and the outcome was the same everytime. The fact that you don't want to leave them when there sick and need help is one of the hardes parts about loving a addict, when you love someone you want to help and you will do everything in your power to see them get well. You tend to see the good times that you had with this person and that makes you want to hold on and gives you help. Depending on how long he's been using mayber he is ready to kick the habbit and give your sister the life she deserves... The first thing she should do is talk to him about all of this, maybe now that his addiction is out in the open he will want to talk about it... I hope some of this helps, and if you have any questions at all I'm always here with answers... Your sister is in my prayers.
blueviolet725
blueviolet725
you can't make her change anymore than she can make the addict change. Suggest to her that she keep all the money separate, so she can keep a roof over her head, and that she lock up any valuables. If he keeps using eventually stuff will disappear, or a "friend" of his will stop by and boom, important stuff is gone. Also, if the place he is at offers family group- go. they will educate her on what to look for, how to support him and how to set boundaries. Some here use alanon for learning how to take care of ourselves.
Addicts are cunning liars, without experience, no one would think they would be so violated by someone they are giving their heart and soul to...unfortunately the addicts soul belongs to their drugs.