Please Help! - How To Deal And Help With A Possibly Alcoholic Friend!?

Basically my friend (normal 18 year old boy) was having a bad time - living in a bad area with a bunch of crazy people who were literally on drugs and in debt and all this crazy stuff - so he was pretty depressed and drinking a sack of goon a night (goon is like a pretty alcoholic but cheap nasty cask wine) - obviously thats bad, so at the moment hes living with me, trying to get him out of that bad place etc, but hes still pretty depressed and unfortunately hes an insomniac.

We went to the doctor's and got him on this drug (I cant remember what its called) but it must be pretty strong as it says you cant even climb trees while using it - plus i read about it and apparently its main purpose is as an antideprressant - not just as sleeping pills.

Im scared he'll get addicted

plus hes still drinking every night - he finished a bottle of straight whiskey in a day

that cant be good right?

I also checked his pills and you are only supposed to take one a day before you go to bed, and hes taking three a day plus your not supposed to have alcohol with them and he drinks all the time.

literally it was 7:30 in the morning and i was leaving for work and he just woke up walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine.

what the hell!

ive never had to deal with anyone like this - what can i do?

im scared he'll od or something

D=Please Help! - How To Deal And Help With A Possibly Alcoholic Friend!?
He needs help. Help beyond your means. Probably needs counseling not just for the addiction but his underlying issues. A 12 step program would also be a big help. As to what you can do? Set clear boundaries regarding his behavior. No drinking while he is living with you. Him going to meetings, etc. If he is hell bent on flushing his life down the toilet it's best he does that somewhere else. Don't enable him. Point him in the direction of help, encourage him, but set boundaries and stick to them. If not your life will quickly become a rollercoaster as you try to ride to the rescue to save your friend. And no matter what you do....his recoveryor failure to do so is ALL up to him.



I come from a family of alcoholics and my dad died from the disease. I also dated someone very briefly who was an alcoholic (broke it off soon after learning what was going on). You can care about people without hitching a ride on their inevitable train wreck.



BTW- people typically don't get depressed from hanging out with crazy friends. Most likely something else is affecting his mood. Again...counseling is a good start.Please Help! - How To Deal And Help With A Possibly Alcoholic Friend!?
anti depressants are not addictive. But he's taking more than prescribed in order to get messed up when he drinks. And if you drink like that antidepressants have no effect on your mood (don't at all help with depression) or possibly even have a negative effect. So, get him off anti depressants. they are useless in this situation cause he abuses them and combines them with alcohol. just don't give him prescription drugs cause obviously, he'll just abuse them. I'd throw them out and tell his doctor what he's doin with them. Also, you said the drug he's taking is a strong sedative. So yeah, he could possibly OD. It's dangerous to mix that dose of sedatives with alcohol cause it also is a sedative. Especially, with his intake. The combo could stop his heart. There is not much you can do about his drinking other than talk to him about it and maybe try a rehab program but he has to be willing. Just don't give him access to other drugs.