4 Signs You’re Enabling A Friend’s Alcohol Addiction

It’s often hard to see signs of addiction in one of your loved ones. Alcohol use disorders and other substance use disorders can often take a long time to develop and an alcoholic or addict may have had minor issues a good part of their lives. Enabling an addict can happen accidently, especially with alcohol, as opposed to a drug abuser, due to the societal acceptance of drinking on a regular basis in the United States and most places around the world. 

If you think a friend or one of your loved ones has developed an addiction to alcohol or is in a cycle of alcohol abuse and you’d like to know what you can do, call Quantum today. We have recovery coaching, people who can assist with staging an intervention, and other support programs that can help you determine if someone in your life has a problem and if you are enabling an addict who needs help with dealing with addiction.

What Is Enabling?

Enabling are actions that a person takes either purposely or inadvertently that support or accept unacceptable behavior, like alcohol abuse. When you accept unacceptable behavior, or look the other way, this is an example of enabling your loved one’s actions.  It’s often hard to confront someone about their addiction to drugs or alcohol. In many cases, no one wants to be the bad guy and tell one of their loved ones that their alcohol or drug use is a problem. Also, an addicted person often has a much different view of their alcohol abuse, even if they know it is causing some problems in their life. If you think you might be enabling your loved one’s drug or alcohol addiction, there are things you can look at and review when it comes to how you may be enabling an alcoholic or drug addict.

Enabling Alcohol Addiction: Know These 4 Signs

If you think you might be enabling an addict, there are ways to assess how you treat and react and stop your enabling behaviors.  If someone you know has developed an addiction to drugs or alcohol, see if you are enabling the addiction in any of the four following ways:

• Denying the Signs of Addiction: When someone else points to a substance abuser in your circle and you turn a blind eye to the problems with drugs and alcohol, this is one form of enabling.

• Making Excuses for Someone Being an Alcoholic or Addict: You shouldn’t justify their substance use disorders for them as this will make them feel like it’s ok.

• Supporting Them Financially: People with substance use disorders often have problems with money as their use of drugs and alcohol grows, and supporting the addicted person in this way will allow them to continue their behavior and stop them from dealing with addiction in their life.

• Taking on Responsibilities and Ignoring Your Own Needs: When one of your loved ones is a drug addict or is struggling with alcohol use disorders, it’s natural to try and help them.  However, what seems like helping is often enabling. 

Enabling vs Helping An Addict

There are steps you can take to stop enabling an addict in your life.  If you think someone in your life has a problem with drugs and alcohol, here are some things you should do: 

• Bring attention to the issue
• Encourage them to start addiction treatment
• Start setting boundaries and uphold them
• Remember it’s OK to say no
• Try an addiction intervention
• Practice sober living while around them

Get Help for Alcohol Addiction at Quantum

If one of your loved ones is a substance abuser and you want to help them get into one of our treatment programs, call us at Quantum today at (609) 993-0733.  We have the recovery resources and levels of care that can help your loved one get on the road to recovery.  Be sure to ask us about help with staging an intervention, too.