Alcoholism rearing its head

[uni]

I found out today that a young person dear to me who is at risk for alcoholism and experienced a lot of serious trauma has been drinking and isolating.

It breaks my heart. I've had others close to me with alcoholism and it's a tough road. I hope and pray this person gets help before it's too late. Everything's all secretive and that doesn't help.

I just needed to go somewhere and tell someone without judgment getting in there. I do have a fair knowledge of addictions and attend support groups, but damn it's hard when somebody young and vulnerable with few supports gets into it. I can't do much because his people are so hush-hush, don't talk about it, whatever, and I want to remain a safe person, but when the older adults involved won't acknowledge the situation I feel there's little I can do except hope and pray.

Thanks for reading.

[Hazelcat]

I found out today that a young person dear to me who is at risk for alcoholism and experienced a lot of serious trauma has been drinking and isolating.

It breaks my heart. I've had others close to me with alcoholism and it's a tough road. I hope and pray this person gets help before it's too late. Everything's all secretive and that doesn't help.

I just needed to go somewhere and tell someone without judgment getting in there. I do have a fair knowledge of addictions and attend support groups, but damn it's hard when somebody young and vulnerable with few supports gets into it. I can't do much because his people are so hush-hush, don't talk about it, whatever, and I want to remain a safe person, but when the older adults involved won't acknowledge the situation I feel there's little I can do except hope and pray.

Thanks for reading.

I hope the person can get help. There's a serious shortage of detox centres these days and hard for people to get help if they need it. A close friend of mine died suddenly at age 36 from drinking related complications (he also had an underlying illness which contributed). He had actually been sober for months but relapsed and his body couldn't cope. I miss him. People forget that alcoholism can be fatal.

[uni]

I'm so sorry that happened to your friend, Hazelcat. I have lost friends and family members to alcoholism too, not directly but as a contributing factor in their early deaths. Addictions are animals unlike any other, and powerful at that.

The young person I spoke of appears fine on the surface, so we'll see how long the charade goes on I guess. Sometimes for years, or sometimes a crisis happens, or sometimes the person "wakes up" and asks for help, in which case I pray that help is available. And sometimes, the drinking is something people do actually sort of grow out of and move on with their lives. It would be nice if this fellow hadn't started in the first place, due to being at risk already simply because of his unhealthy connections and past experiences. Thanks for your reply.