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Dear all, My father has progressed to this stage of the disease and is exhibiting insane symptoms while on benders now. I am wondering how long this takes to really take over, or is it just periodic. My sister is home for the weekend and really noticed the deterioration in him while drinking. He sat in the armchair a lot of night talking to himself and swearing. Both he and my step mother seem to be in the throes of alcoholism. I am upset by it but I do realise that there is nothing I can do about it, which is a step further than what I was before, as I tend to think I can fix quite a lot which is untrue. I would appreciate your prayers for him as he did a lot for me years ago when the children were small and it is only in the latter years that this disease has destroyed any of the wonderful relationship we had.
Hate so much that you are watching your father suffer with this disease. Will keep you, him and all of your family in my prayers. Glad that you can remember the good things before the disease. That's a positive note.
((hugs to you))
Peace, Rita
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No matter what me and my God are going to be ok, even better than OK -
When my best friend (age 36) started talking crazy talk she lived for about a year after that. They turn into what's called "mush brain". Their brains literally start to liquify (sp) The sad thing is it doesn't take much alcohol to get them to this point. Their liver is usually struggling to function. Once it's to the point of failing it can not reguvenate(sp) itself. At the end stage of alcoholism they are drinking to feel normal. They don't drink to get the "drunk" feeling. If he were to stop right now he could have seizures and could die. That's why he needs medical help. He's probably very scared and realizes he has a serious issue. Some will get help while others just die. It's a very serious disease. I'm sorry. The only thing you can do is talk with him and see if he will go get help medically. That's all you can do is try. It's horrible to see someone die from this. I watched my best friend and I watched my husband who fortunatly saw the seriousness of it and sought help. I hope he wants the help. Your in my prayers and so is he. God Bless ^i^
Sharing Experience and Hope: My uncle drank from age 18 to age 70, was pronounced by numerous psychiatrists at public and private hospitals as: "brain too far gone" for any medical care to help him. He was having auditory hallucinations 24/7 for a few years that people were outside whatever building he was in talking about breaking in to kill him. He was sent to a nursing home. Despite being kept in restraints even while being fed, he was still very physically violent at times. He recognized only some of his family, was confused about basic facts of people such as how many children his brother had (having lived next door for 30 years), never recalled a visit once the person left, etc.
At last, when no nuring home in the region would take him, his family *finally* agreed to have him declared incompetent and court-ordered to the state mental hospital. Within 2 weeks, the psychiatrists there had him stabilized on the proper meds for him so that he no longer had auditory hallucinations, no longer had delusions that people were plotting against him, recognized and remembered facts about everyone in the extended family even, could watch the evening news (which he had always loved to do) and then discuss it in a productive conversation with others.
True, he did remain in the state hospital until he died 3 years later. But he died sane and happy and was certainly a miracle in progress as he had tried to be throughout his life. (Sadly, even with working his AA program and his wife in Al-Anon and periods where he was sober for years, alcoholism in his case was stronger than his best and continued efforts to work his program.)
An attorney who works often with that state mental hospital told me, "They get the worst cases all the time; they are often able to see that a person CAN still recover their sanity even though many other psychiatrists say it's not possible."
Once restored to sanity, my uncle required very few meds to remain sane.
There IS hope.
I pray for you to have the strength to get you through any possible resistance in your family, resistance from doctors, resistance from the court. Lean on the strength of the group of all your fellow Alanoners around the world.
