My bro has drinking and gambling issues.

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LonelyJar
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05 Oct 2018, 5:34 am

I've been keeping this to myself for the last few weeks, but I've finally decided that I needed to tell somebody about this: one of my younger brothers has become fairly bitter, pompous and prone to latching onto vices. During my family's latest trip to Las Vegas, my brother went to the card tables with almost no strategy and consumed as much alcohol as he desired, without caring about how too much of it could negatively impact his senses, health or overall attitude. (Mind you, I've only heard about all this from my parents, who were gambling alongside him; I was in our hotel room playing games on my smart-phone because gambling just isn't my thing.) Does anybody here have some advice I could pass along to him? Should I even bother attempting to help someone who hates being corrected or being told to pay more attention to his own faults and foibles?



serpentari
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05 Oct 2018, 11:06 am

i understand how much u worry, how afraid u are.
but, for 1 thing - are u sure it is as bad? maybe i misunderstood ur text, but isnt it a single occasion? not a best way to spend one's free time, but some people do that, and keep their lives at that.

and if it had become a system that really harms his lifeline u need to understand this - when somebody goes off the hinge, its very unlikely to un-mess them without their desire. knocking sense into people works only if they, at least very deep inside, want to be un-messed. when they were looking for answers, even if without realising it.

right, wrong, irrelevant. believe me, i know. i had not been gambling, no. i had not been drinking, drugging, anything. but i had been ignoring serious problems with my mental health. allowing a 1-factor ptsd turn into multyfactor, never paying attention. writing flashbacks on eidetic memory. ignoring every pain i had untill i could no longer get up.

it had spanned over 10 years, and i did not allow anybody fix me. not family. not a shrink i even went to. i gave them a short version about only recept problems, that were quite enough to get me prescribed with neuroleptics, but not solving any real issue. i went in denial. for 10 years. if a person does not want help, no amount of attempt can be enough. i am sorry for giving this to u.


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