A question about Alchoholics & crack addicts?

Question

If someone has been drinking & smoking for 25 years & is clean for 2-3 years, do they still have the urge to smoke or drink?? If your a recovred alchoholic or drug user, how did you quit & how hard was it? Im curious because my dad is a Alchoholic & a crack addict & has been in and out of jail. He is serving 3 years now, and everytime he goes in he tells me he will change & then when he gets out he stays clean for awhile and then its a repeated cycle. Thanks for awnsering =]

Answer 1

I quit cold turkey. But I had to stay away from my so called friends. You have to want to stop or you won't. You can't help someone who doesn't want the help.

Answer 2

Addiction and alcoholism is a physical allergy and a mental obsession.

Honestly, it is typical for an addict/alcoolic to swear he will change and stop using etc... and he means it at the time.

My friends just adopted a meth baby. It was the 7th child taken away from the 28 year old meth-addicted mother. She can't stop, not even for her children.

I have never met or known a recovered alcoholic or drug user. They are all recovering. You see, the addiction is always there, the sickness is there, it can never be cured, it can only be arrested through abstinacnce. I know an alcoholic sober for 25 years and she says that she has the desire to drink every day, but that keeps her on her toes and out of denial knowing that if she takes one drink, it may be her last.

I have another friend that said her desire to use went away, but she only stayed sober for three months, I guess the desire came back.

I go to Al-Anon and Nar-Anon meetings and learned a lot about addiction and my part in the family illness. Growing up in a home with addicts and alcoholics I adapted coping skills to survive that environment, but those coping mechanisms don't work in my life today. I am doing much better now.

Kind regards.

Answer 3

Addiction is a life long battle. I myself have never struggled with it, but I have family and friends struggling with it. It is something he wil fight the rest of his life and until he is truly serious about staying clean, he will fall right back into the cycle again and again. He tells you he's going to stay clean just to please you, but it sounds like it's just empty promises, then he's right back at his old ways. I'm sorry to tell you, but no one can help you father stay clean unless he really truly wants it for himself. My father is an alcoholic and probably won't stop until it kills him. He has ruined many relationships because of this including his relationship with me. He has never met my two children and never will as long as he stays on this path. It's a tough life to live and sad to say, but they make their own choices.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 4

im sure that when your dad tells you he is going to change he truly believes it in his heart at that time ,God will help him and he can be a totally different person,if you can before he falls back into the cycle find someway of getting him involved in the church,bible/it is a guarantee that he can get help// im sure that he feels guilty over the things he does and that will weigh heavy on him if you can get him involved and he learns that there is nothing you can do that is bad enough that God still dont love you and we all mess up it will help him build some self esteem in himself.............good luck .................May God Bless you

Answer 5

I know you love your dad, and want to believe what he promises you... but addicts and alcoholics are filled with selfishness and lies -- they lie to themselves and the ones who love them.

Strongly suggest that you go to Alanon and learn how not to be a part of his addiction pattern -- live a healthy life yourself.

The truth is that many people kick these habits, but most of them have a lot of false tries before they succeed. Your dad will need you to be there still loving him, but not letting his lies and selfishness fool you or disturb you too much.

Hang in there -- you have lots of company. It took me until my dad was over 70, lots of lies and disappointments -- and he was in a coma for three weeks before he came out of it and had a smile on his face. Turns out dad was depressed for most of his adult life and was using his adictions to self-medicate. Life is much sweeter now that we are past those old days... but I forgave him and found a way to be truthful with him when he was out of line lots of years ago... Alanon helped a lot.

Answer 6

they are still vonerable to those past habbits, but since he's been clean for so long, there is a chance of him remaining clean for longer if not for ever...