Telephone Mini Intervention

Last night I had a telephone mini intervention with my old friend who should have died last weekend from drinking far too much. It went o.k. I guess. For the most part I voiced my concern the way I wanted, and they were kind enough to fully listen, even if they did not take it all in. I even was able to be calm about it and not go irrate about just how stupid they have been behaving. Believe me, I wanted to yell and slap them across the face multiple times, because I think sometimes, people need to be slapped from time to time in the hopes that that knocks the sense back into them.

Frankly, as calm as the whole conversation went, it does not seem that their eyes are fully open to just how stupid AND lucky they have been over the past few months. The only saving grace of the entire conversation is that they are not 100% stupid - they realize that if they stopped breathing multiple times in the hospital, that they could have just as easily stopped breathing at their friends house while sleeping. Falling and getting a concussion saved their life.

Now, my heart is heavy because I know the percentage of them getting to a very dangerous level again is incredibly high. They do not know how to cope with stress and depression and admitted that turning to the bottle to ease the pain for a few hours was getting easier and easier and very tempting. It hurts to say that I will not be surprised if it happens again or if they end up dead.

I am at a loss of words. I do not know what to do. I have reached out, to them, and their closest family member. They take it as a joke (the old friend) and try to play it off as if they are just going through I rough patch, when we all know it is more serious than that.

So I pose these questions... What can I do? They have a young child. Does that child need to be taken away for a while? Do they need to seek help in a more permanent way (i.e. Mental Help facility)? Do I tell them that I can not stand by and watch them self destruct even more? I am perplexed as to what is the right plan of action, because I can not be their crutch and shoulder to lean on again. I am tired of it and overly drained by it. I have got my own shit to deal with.