Answered questions(5)
Support vs Enabling
I have a 22 year old son who is a recovering Heroine/Blues (synthetic form of heroine?) addict. He was diagnosed with clinical depression in adolesence, was in juvenile detention from 14 to 17 and most recently in jail for the past 7 months for fraud ( he stole checks from his father.) My ex husband and my daughter (we are close) refuse to have contact with him at this point and I am the only family member he has contact with. He is living in a halfway house in the same town and attending meetings as required. I know he is having a difficult time as it is a horrible place with many homeless men living there. I am struggling with letting him stay with me for a defined period of time with a written agreement and requirements to offer support for him. I belive he has "hit bottom" this last time but not sure if I can know that for sure. He became a father 7 months ago and they live in another state. I would like to give him the support he needs to be successful but don"t want to fall back into the same patterns. I have not been the "Tough Love" one in the family ...
Read answer →Forcing hope?
My dad's been drinking for 50 years and now the doctor says if he doesn’t stop he is going to die. He says he's too old to change now and that it is hopeless? I can understand how hard it must be to try to change after so long but I do not want to believe that there is no hope and that he should just give up. What do I need to do to get him to feel like there is some hope?
Read answer →Drug-dealing adult son
My son is dealing drugs. He is 24 and he is a drug addict and I know now that he is supporting himself by dealing drugs. I have been wondering where he gets his money and I did not want to think the worst of him but his sisters finally told me the truth about what I already knew was going on. He is addicted to meth and to crack and he deals to feed his habit. I have tried on so many occasions to get him to stop using the drugs that he has been using since he dropped out of high school in his Junior year. He has ADHD and he could never really fit into the school system, and I think the ADHD has made it hard for him to have much success anywhere else in his life, which is part of why he uses drugs. I am scared that he is going to die. He is just a sweet kid below all the drugs and if he doesn’t OD someone is going to pull a gun or a knife on him and kill him. I am at the end of my wits and I am seriously considering calling the police on him. I have no influence to help him but on the other hand I am worried about what a felony record might do to him. He has never been to jail before but once he is a felon he is a felon for life. Is there any way I can get the police involved without having them charge him with a serious crime. I think if he could get scared enough about what might happen to him he might be more able to think about getting some help for his addictions.
Read answer →2 Months Sober
My ex girlfriend had a drinking problem and it eventually got so bad that I ended the relationship because I couldn't deal with the constant problems anymore, though I still did and do love her. Now she has been going to AA and she is 2 months sober and she is asking me to take her back. For her 2 months is a very big deal and I am proud of her. Is 2 months of sober time a significant enough amount that it indicates that she is likely going to be able to keep off the drinking?
Read answer →Fetal drug exposure
My daughter is 11 months old and she seems OK. Her mom did meth, crack, pills, alcohol and weed while she was pregnant. She did it mostly in the first few months and then she got her act together a bit but she still had some relapses all the way through. How long will I have to wait before I can know whether or not the drugs her mom did have harmed her or not?
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