conquered a drinking problem?

my best friend has been drinking, and i don't know how to get her to stop. i feel an indescribable hurt whenver i hear of her or anyone else that i love who has been drunk. i don't know what to say or do to get her to stop drinking. has anyone over-come this addiction? if so, could you tell me what made you stop? and even if you haven't had to over-come the addiction and have some suggestions for me, could you help me? i really need some help with this.

First you need to know why she is drinking. There must be something wrong if she is drinking a lot.

well, she drinks because everyone else is doing it. and because it makes her happy. even though i've told her a million times that there are other resources to happiness...

A while back I used to drink alot with my friends. Every weekend we'd be getting drunk. But, What stopped me was getting in trouble with the cops..

So maybe tell her some things that can happen while she's drinking..And, she might stop. But then again, she might not..

well, you know actually she drinks with her family. like her parents and uncles and stuff. and she has been for years now. i don't guess i'm really worried about trouble with the cops, though. i mean, my dad used to get drunk and almost killed me and my mom more than once. this is why i'm scared of anyone drinking. i've had a bad past with it, but she doesn't understand that.. she thinks that nothing will ever happen because she drinks with her family. but it still breaks my heart no matter what.

Tell her she is stupid for following the crowd if that's the only reason she drinks. And it doesn't make you happy. It is known to be a depressant.

yeah, well i've told her endlessly that it is SO stupid for doing that, and it breaks my heart when she does, but then she goes into this whole thing and says 'well, don't you remember all the times you hurt me?'.. because i used to cut and she didn't like it.. but anyways... it's like she's getting back at me, well, that's how i feel anyways. that's probably not how it is, but it sure does seem like it. but because i've hurt her, she thinks it's okay to hurt me now, i guess. and she always does this when we fight or something, but this last time, there was nothing going on, she just said 'everyone else was doing it, so i wanted to, too.' and she just says that it makes her happy and forget about the world and its problems..

Just tell her to wait until she gets her stomach pumped, or until her liver shrivels up. Or until she gets alcohol poisoning. Or maybe even tell her to wait til she gets raped or injured etc while she is drunk.

you know.. she doesn't see any of that as real. nothing can happen to her while she's drunk because all she sees is that she's happy while she's drunk. nothing else. and she doesn't think before she starts drinking. i keep telling her that i stopped using drugs and stopped cutting because i thought of her before i did so, and i knew it hurt her, so i made myself build the strength to stop.. for her. and she should do the same for me.. is that wrong to tell her?

no it's not wrong to tell her. She needs to stop. Sheknows how much it hurt her when you were in trouble, so she should understand that yuo are hurting now. If she gets annoyed at you for giving her the truth, it's just because she can't handle it.

well, she tends to listen and believe this for a while.. until her family has another night of drinking, and then she's pulled back into it, and doesn't think anymore. i don't know how to get her to think before she drinks.

A person with a drinking problem has to admit that they have a problem. Recovery is then possible.

I personally have never gotten drunk or anything but my uncle is an alcoholic. I know that the only time he stops drinking is when he goes someplace for help, like a hospital or something. If he leaves (which he always does) he goes and does the same thing all over again. It's like a never-ending cycle. But I do know he has good intentions. What Im getting at is that your friend probably thinks to herself that she wont drink again (has good intentions) but then once she gets the oppertunity she does without thinking about what may happen. Do you know if she has a drinking problem? Because people that do so make excuses about why they drink and say that they can/will stop. The only help you can give her is your support and trying to help her realize she may have a problem.

''A person with a drinking problem has to admit that they have a problem. Recovery is then possible.''

What RainbowSlider said sums it up!

ps. Even though she may know that her drinking hurts you-it might be that she cant physically/emotionally stop even if she really wants to! It may just be an addiction that she cant oversome by herself no matter how hard she tries. So dont think that she doesnt care as much for you just becuase she wont quit drinking for you--

she will only stop for herself and she may never stop, thats the way addiction is. but you could only hurt yourself trying to save her. i'm warning you because alcohol has touched almost every one i love in a bad way and there was never anything i could do about it. dont think she doesn't value your friendship, she has probably never needed you most. but dont let her drag you down with her. its a very complicated situation and i'm sorry you have to go through it