Thread: How do I walk away from an alcoholic?

you look in the mirror and have a conversation with yourself....you find your self respect during that conversation and realize that you are not the one with the problem, and you have enough dignity left to walk away, because you put YOU first. period.

(been there, done that!)

my dad has been an alcoholic for between 20 & 30 years... He's like 65 now, and in my life, I only saw him sober MAYBE 3 or 4 times. TRUST ME. I KNOW it's REALLY HARD to walk away... You want to help, you don't want to leave them, you love them... But they have to want the help. They have to love you enough to pull through. And let me tell you, you're 90% likely, just wasting your time. The last time I saw my dad was Christmas and he was actually sober... The last time I even TALKED to him before that, was a good 3-6 months before that, and a good nother 5-6 months before that phone call that I'd seen him. Everytime I think about him, it really hurts. But I know it's for the best that I put as much space between us as possible. I told him the one time we talked about a year ago, when he was drunk again, that he let me down my whole life. That he was a terrible father. That he was weak and selfish. And that it's been killing me for so long, that I will never be his daughter, never love him again. Those words, actually helped him get sober for about 4 months. I was really proud of him. But, as always, he let me down again.

So as hard as it is, tell him, NO EXCEPTIONS, it's either me, or the booze. Not tomorrow, not later, right now, you need to decide. And the very next second he "slips up" and gets plastered, leave.

If he's really committed to quitting, and wants your help, it's worth a try. But don't waste your time if he's as lost of a cause as my dad. Cause in the end, it's not worth the damage it will do to you mentally.