Truth Time!
Ready? If you are an addict or an alcoholic, it's not a disease. It's a choice. Alcohol or drugs weren't forced upon you like cancer. You went looking for it.
I know. I'm wrong and a crazy person. You are only pissed off at me because I just made all of it......every person you hurt, every lie you told, every law you broke, every time you saw a disappointed look....Solely YOUR responsibility. Damn. Nothing to blame your poor decisions on now. Sorry. Truth is a bitch sometimes.
Spare me the socially acceptable "it's hereditary"....Stupid doesn't have to run all the way through the family. It can stop with you. Before you think I'm bashing, I was an addict. WAS. Don't buy in to "once an addict, always an addict" bullshit. A bit defeatist don't you think?
It's NOT a disease. It's not an illness. IT'S A CHOICE. Make a different one. Stop hurting everyone around you.
If you are a loved one of an addict, it's NOT your fault. No choice you ever made put one drop of alcohol or any amount of drug in that addicts body. The best thing you can do for that person is tell the truth. They are choosing this. They are not sick. What they are is fighting for their lives. It's THEIR fight. When they get tired, they will come home. Leave the door open. Don't tell them what they should do or how they should act, they know. They know they are messing up. The hardline is the ONLY way to go. Make them tired faster. If you don't give them that ride, they have to walk. Don't feed them. Don't clothe them. Don't give them a place to crash. The ONLY acceptable call from them should be "I am IN treatment." Not "I wanna go to treatment". If they want to go to treatment, they will get there themselves. Make them tired. Don't make them ashamed.
I put my family through a shit ton of crap they never bargained for. I cussed at them. I screamed at them. I blamed them. I ignored them. Then I did the best thing I could ever do for them: I forgave myself. I stopped lying to myself. I took responsibility for the pain and the worry they went through. I'll never make up that time I made everyone's life hell. I won't try and they won't ask me. What I will do is stop the fucking madness right here and tell the truth. They were all my choices.