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I guess this qualifies as good news?

Whatdoido

Greenlighter
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Jun 6, 2014
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Apparently, my parents had some plans they did not feel like sharing for some reason: My brother is going to be put in a detox program for I believe they said either 8 weeks of detox in a facility or 1 year of detox in a facility, I can't remember atm. This comes along with 60 hours of court-mandated parenting classes and 3 years of probation. If he tests dirty on any of the random drug tests they will give him up to 5 years in prison. Before any one comments that I'm a heartless bastard for considering this good news, my brother needs help. He is not willing to admit it, and we are all hoping this will be a wake up call that he needs to get his life in order. A hail mary of sorts. Hopefully he responds positively to this and at least tries to learn something...
 
Rehab and Detox for an addict can be very hard to deal with at first. What your brother needs to realize and hopefully he's already noticed is that he needs help. Drug addiction is a very serious problem and should not be taken lightly.

I know the sort of feeling your having, the idea that you feel bad because a person you really care about will have to be away for so long and be doing things the don't want to. However at the same time you are glad they are getting help. I've had friends and family members that have dealt with addiction, some of them nearly dying to alcohol poising and cocaine overdoses.

Once they realized that rehab and detox is what they needed to keep from killing themselves with the substances they were abusing is when they became thankful they were forced to go to rehab.

I hope your brother gets the help he needs and realizes that in the long run this will be better for him. Good luck to you and your family.
 
I read your other thread and couldn't think of what to say, but I'm glad to hear this good news. I think I would not want my kid in jail, but I wouldn't let him live with me if he was stealing from me. Anyway hopefullly things get better for all of you.
 
Thank you for your response, Triz. You're right in what you said I am feeling. I want him to get better, but I don't want him to suffer. I hope he does take this for the amazing opportunity it is and gets clean. Thank you so much.
 
As always, from the moment I first heard your story in the other thread, I wish the best for your brother, his children, his siblings and his parents. If your brother is going against his will he will have that to work through but if he is exhausted enough by the fallout from his addiction he may well welcome the change. Let's hope for the latter. My brother was forty facing a second strike in a 3 strikes state when he was given the court mandated choice to either go into a one year rehab or prison. He of course wanted neither but credits his own exhaustion with his recovery in the rehab. His addiction had screwed up his relationships with everyone but had certainly impacted his children the most. Today he has repaired what could be repaired and has a decent relationship with both of his children. Never give up hope and keep your compassion alive. That is all you can really do for your brother. As for you, I hope that there is some counseling or other support available to you (I still recommend al-anon as support) because you have lots of feelings to tend to and you deserve help for that. <3
 
Thank you for your response, herbavore. Because my parents keep enabling him to live here and face zero consequences, he will not feel any type of exhaustion any time soon. What I'm hoping is my parents will smarten up and offer him an ultimatum: Get clean and stay clean from the detox, or find another place to live. He was absent for about a month at one point, during that time his two children behaved 100% better overall. The longer he was gone, the better they seemed to get. I'm hoping we can help them get counseling to deal with any emotional landmines they most likely have, and to realize their father needs help, and that these behaviors of his are not examples to be followed. The last time he stole something, their only responses were "Daddy stole the TV again." To think they find that to be the norm around here is terrible.
 
This is good news and I hope your brother can sort himself out. I think the parenting classes should be mandated in his case because those kids shouldn't have to see this stuff going on. Court mandated rehab doesn't always work because the person has to really want to get clean for themselves. Do you know when he goes in?
 
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