I understand that one person can’t make another person want to accept addiction but when it’s a literal life and death situation are there any more extreme things a family can do to get the person to understand that they are killing themselves? My brother is a cocaine user. 2 years ago he had really severe headaches and it turned out he had a brain aneurysm that was caused by cocaine addiction. He had to have open skull surgery to clip the aneurysm and at that time he swore he was done with cocaine and everything else. Now I just heard from a friend that she saw him using again. He could have a brain bleed and drop dead at any time and using cocaine puts him at high risk of sudden death. My parents have been through hell with worry about him and I don’t know if I should tell them what I know or if there is nothing any of us can do if it is better that they do not know. I do not know if an intervention is going to work since he already had a near death experience and promised to get help. He did not get help but I am pretty sure he stopped for some time since he was quite weak for several months after his surgery.
I highly recommend that you attempt to talk to your brother about your concerns. You can talk with him in a non-judgemental way and offer to assist him with getting some help this time. Point out to him that there is no shame in needing and asking for help. You can learn more about how to help him at smartrecovery.org. They take a different approach than Alanon. They believe someone close to the person with addiction has the best opportunity to help provide an intervention and encourage them to get help. There is also help for the addict on this web site. Some states have laws that can help you force someone into rehab, but most have many loop holes and are rarely used successfully. Best wishes.
anonymous
