Dear Queenie,
My brother died from an overdose of drugs and now my husband is going the same way and I don’t know how to help because he doesn’t think he has a problem. I don’t want to see him die like my brother did and most of all I don’t want him to set an example for our children.
Queenie, what can I do?—Addict’s wife
Dear Wife,
Try to get your husband into a substance abuse programme. I should think seeing your brother die from an overdose would at least help you convince him, but if he is in denial – “It can’t happen to me”, “I won’t let it happen to me” – there is not much you can do for him. The most important thing right now is to protect your children from the example he is setting them.
I suggest you get professional counselling as soon as possible to help you decide what to do and to have support in doing it, no matter how unpleasant it may be. I suspect you will have to force your husband to choose between the drugs and his family, and if he chooses the drugs, well, you know what that will mean.
