- #36
DennisN
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DaveC426913 said:Let me pose a completely unrelated (and again, fictional) scenario to make a point.
A friend of mine could not bring himself to arrange an intervention for his wife's drinking.
We are pretty sure the reason he didn't try very hard is because it would shine a light on his own drug use.
So he was enabling her. Or she, him. Or they were co-dependent.
Getting into a discussion about the issue might result in him coming up with all sorts of excuses, dodges and rationalizations - trying to stay in the shadows of his motives and fears.
That is a tricky scenario indeed.
Regarding substance abuse/substance dependency (if that is part of the issue) I'm not very familiar with such situations. But from what I have picked up from psychological sources is that there often is an underlying reason (psychological/physical/situational) reason for substance abuse/substance dependency. That is, there is something underneath that is driving the self-medicating behavior.
(see Wikipedia: Self-medication)
DaveC426913 said:But invoking the words "enabling" and "co-dependency" cuts right to the source of the problem. These are well-known behaviors with well-defined circumstances.
Yes.
Though, I personally would not know how to intervene in such a situation.
I would probably be cautious of using psychological terms in a real situation.
I think I would first consult a professional therapist who has experience with the issues being central to the particular situation, and then follow the advice from the therapist.
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