Freeing someone you love from alcohol and other drugs

Based on an understanding that addiction is a chronic, hereditary, and progressive illness, this self-help guide outlines a program of intervention and recovery that can be used by friends and family members of alcoholics or drug abusers. Original. This book has excellent material on doing an intervention, for example a section on preparing for the defense mechanisms analcoholic or addict can throw at you. Remember, they are very good at this! They've been manipulating their families through these means for years. The book also makes an important point, that the primary enabler may be the primary victim of the disorder--but only because "she" doesn't know any better. This book doesn't correct the "enabler's" problem, but addresses it, which is excellent as an introduction. Other books are addressed specifically to that topic. The authors give tough love to the families they write to, as well as to people in treatment. In addressing the fear families can have of the drinker's reactions, or perhaps economic problems that may ensue, they remind us, "After all--what have you (really) got to lose?" Which breaks through the family's own defenses about their problem alcoholic-addict, and the impossibility of him/her getting better without help. In other words, without action, they are going to lose everything anyway.