How to Help an Alcoholic

How you can help an alcoholic is something that many people find themselves thinking when a family member, a loved one, friend or colleague is suffering from alcoholism. It most certainly is not an easy question to ask, nor to answer, as it is really only the alcoholic themselves who can be the one to decide to help themselves. However, there are some techniques that you can use which will encourage the alcoholic to take a hard look at their addiction, which in turn can help them seek help for their alcohol addiction sooner rather than later.

Unless someone is sectioned under the mental health act, you cannot force them to do anything against their will, this includes seeking treatment for their alcohol addiction. The best way to broach their problems with alcohol is to approach the situation as a concerned party rather than someone trying to pile on the pressure. Offering information about treatments can help the alcoholic realise that they need to look for help themselves rather than forcing them into getting help.

When speaking to an alcoholic it is best not get emotional or confrontational, simply taking a step back and speaking with information and facts instead is more beneficial. Sometimes professional intervention works best as you have others to support you and offer a bigger support group for the alcoholic themselves.

Often alcoholic will suffer from a type of severely deluded thinking and cannot see or simply refuse to accept the reality of their situation. This includes not being able to care about pleads for them to stop or sternly worded health warning from a medical professional. They will ignore them with the belief that they are in control of their drinking even though it is obvious that they are not.

Trying to help an alcoholic will most likely leave you feeling frustrated, helpless and at a complete loss on what to do. What you need to remember is that these feelings are completely normal and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over these feeling. Instead focus on not ‘enabling’ someone drinking, this means not making excusing for them or trying to ‘work around’ their drinking problem. This means that if the alcoholic comes home and passes out at the bottom of the stairs then do not move them to a comfortable position, instead leave them there.

This is because the sooner the realistic effects of alcoholism starts to impact a person’s life then the sooner they will realise that there is a problem with their drinking behaviour and the quicker they will get help for their addiction. This is far easier than trying to convince them that they have a problem.

If you are worried about someone that you love and feel they may need treatment for their alcohol addiction, then contact Timetostop on 0808 163 6005 if you want advice, support or more information about alcoholism.You can also complete an online self-assessment to see the scale of yours or their alcohol addiction on the Time to Stop site.