How do I answer an email like this one from a mother who loves her son?
"Hello I am afraid I'm beginning to believe there is no hope in finding help for my son .
He is an adult but he is my son and he needs help no insurance and at this time homeless with some definite mental health issues along with self medicating and substance abuse .
He cannot keep a job nor even function normally at this point . No place so far has been able to help me help him and he of course is reluctant to ask or find help .
I am at my wits end and honestly am probably doing more harm then good because it's not something I know how to fix or handle please help if u can."
And of course my answer is that of course we can help him if he's willing to follow a few simple directions.
When I open the email I note that the mother is the one asking for help. Rarely does the addict write or call for help. It's usually mom, who, of course, has been running interference for him for much of his life. Including calling for help that he probably doesn't want anyway.
Addicts call us for help when there's no where else to turn. When they're homeless and sick and have run out of options other than maybe another trip to jail or the mental ward. That's when they call.
So he probably won't call or show up. We have a bad reputation among those who want to keep getting drunk or high.
Those who want to get their lives back do well at TLC. If they put a year in our program they won't recognize themselves. But they must do a little work to get there.
I feel for this mother because she lost herself in her son’s problem.
