How to Get an Alcoholic Into Rehab

Alcoholics sometimes don't know they have a problem, or they lack the proper motivation to seek treatment and get sober. Friends and family can help. Though confronting an alcoholic is uncomfortable, awkward and emotionally traumatic, it often is a necessary part of the recovery process. Helping an alcoholic seek treatment is a matter of identifying the disease, researching the treatment options and intervening in a timely and tactful way.

Instructions

• 1

  Know what constitutes alcoholism. Alcoholism is a complex problem with a succinct definition. The National Institutes of Health define it as a disease marked by the strong need to drink, the inability to stop drinking, withdrawal symptoms in the absence of alcohol and the need to drink more to feel alcohol's intoxicating effects.

• 2

  Know that alcoholism is a disease. Before you confront an alcoholic, know that the problem does not come from a character defect or lack of willpower. Understand that alcoholism is a medical illness.

• 3

  Ask your doctor for a referral to a substance abuse specialist. The specialist can help you plan the best way to approach the alcoholic about seeking help.

• 4

  Study the treatment options. The National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service has up-to-date information on local resources. You can speak directly to a specialist and request information about treatment centers in your area.

• 5

  Intervene. In an intervention, an alcoholic's friends and family explain the harm of the addiction in factual and non-judgmental terms, and ask the person to seek treatment. Specialists called interventionists can help the family and friends through this process.

• 6

  Prepare for rejection. Some alcoholics refuse to seek treatment. In these cases, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism urges friends and family to take several measures. These include refusing to enable or make excuses for the alcoholic, explaining the consequences if the drinker continues drinking (divorce, moving out, etc.), timing intervention carefully (such as after an alcohol-related problem such as injury) and bringing other friends and family into the intervention process.