Hotline

I've been taking some of the calls coming into to our district Al-Anon Information Service. Thankfully, most of the calls are queries about when and where meetings occur. Occasionally though, there are calls that require something a bit more than a meeting list.

Last night, I talked for about an hour to a lady who was struggling with her addicted son. She told me the story of how her son had been in and out of rehab, had lost jobs, and was now in a mid-western city following a binge and subsequent loss of a new job. He had been calling her for two hours to ask her for money, to tell her he was hungry and on the streets, and to scream at her for not helping him. She said that the last straw was when he called his 18 year old daughter at her college to ask her to send him $100.

Today, I talked to another lady whose son is an alcoholic. She told me that he was highly functional with a good job. He has been living with her and his 14 year old daughter doesn't want to be around him anymore because he has become "mean". She corrected me when I called alcoholism a disease. She said that it's an addiction. She said that she didn't really think she needed help but her son did.

I've listened to people weep, rail and question why. The main message that I get is that these people want to "fix" their alcoholic/addict. They often aren't even aware of how badly they themselves are hurting. They don't understand the concept of being powerless. And they are in denial about their own problems resulting from someone else's alcoholism. I hope that they go to a meeting and that the message of the program will get through to them. That's all that I can do.