She had flown him here the middle of December, hoping the geographical change to TLC would aid in his recovery.
But after he was here a few weeks, he relapsed while looking for a job. He dragged himself back a few days later. And we gave him another opportunity. But around New Year's Eve he came back drunk one more time. We discharged him again.
The sad part of my conversation with his sister is that confidentiality laws prohibit us from acknowledging that he is or ever was in our program. However, she stayed on the phone for a while anyway telling me of his physical disabilities and the problems he has with his alcoholism. She went over the same information three times, probably because she didn't know how to end the conversation gracefully. Or maybe because she wanted some connection, no matter how tenuous, with her missing brother.
While this missing brother very likely knows how much his sister loves him, he probably would have been deeply impacted had he heard the pain and sadness in her voice.
So many times I hear clients say that their drinking or drugging never hurt anyone – just themselves.
But if they could hear their loved ones they might have a different opinion.
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The sad part of my conversation with his sister is that confidentiality laws prohibit us from acknowledging that he is or ever was in our program. However, she stayed on the phone for a while anyway telling me of his physical disabilities and the problems he has with his alcoholism. She went over the same information three times, probably because she didn't know how to end the conversation gracefully. Or maybe because she wanted some connection, no matter how tenuous, with her missing brother.
While this missing brother very likely knows how much his sister loves him, he probably would have been deeply impacted had he heard the pain and sadness in her voice.
So many times I hear clients say that their drinking or drugging never hurt anyone – just themselves.
But if they could hear their loved ones they might have a different opinion.
Click here to leave a comment
