Many people struggle with convincing an addict or alcoholic to go to rehab.  This can be a huge challenge to the friends and loved ones of a struggling alcoholic, because the mental energy that it takes to try and change another person can be absolutely exhausting.  One key point that you have to realize is that no matter how hard you try, and no matter what all you do in this quest, the struggling addict in your life may never actually change.  They may never “see the light” at all and just continue to self medicate for the rest of their life.

Now this seems like a harsh idea and it may even seem like blatant negativity.  But in reality you have to come to terms with the possibility in order to protect your own sanity.  This is about maintaining your own sanity as much as it is trying to change the other person.  Protecting yourself and your mental and emotional health needs to become your number one priority in this battle.  Why?  Because that is what is truly at stake here, even though you do not realize it.  Instead, you think that it is all about getting the other person clean and sober.  Well, that may never happen, and in the meantime, you are slowly being destroyed from the inside out.

So, change your priorities.  Do it now.  If you go seek help from the professionals on this (i.e., step into an Al-Anon meeting and openly share your entire story) they will confirm that what I am saying is true.  Specifically, that:

1) The addict or alcoholic in your life may never stop using, and there is nothing you can ultimately do about it.  And

2) You need to start putting your own sanity FIRST, and take care of YOU.

I realize that these two ideas are not what most people want to hear when they first start looking to try and help the struggling addict in their life.  What they really want to hear is that there is some sort of magic bullet, or a secret tactic, or a surefire method for getting someone to sober up that almost always works.  In fact this is just not the case.  There are no magic bullets, and it is almost always a struggle to get someone to confront their own addiction.

So you need to prepare yourself for this type of long, emotional, drawn out battle.  As such, you need support.  Where are you going to get that emotional support?  If not at Al-Anon meetings, where are you going to get it?  If you do not have a strong answer to that question, then you had better seriously consider attending some Al-Anon groups.  The level of support that you can get there is unparalleled.

Now as far as actually convincing a person to go to rehab, there 2 main approaches.  One is a formal intervention, and the other is informal.  I am sort of biased against formal interventions and I do not really think they are worth the effort.  I am sure some of them have worked for some people in the past but I think that was lucky timing more than anything else.

Informal interventions happen all the time, when you confront the alcoholic or addict in your life.  I think this is the best time to convince them to go to rehab, but you have to be prepared.  You can get prepared by calling up local treatment centers and asking them questions about what it would take to admit your friend or loved one.  Be ready so that you know what has to happen  when the person finally says that they are ready to change.

When an addict finally surrenders and decides to give it a shot, the window of opportunity can be very small, so you want to be able to act fast.