I want to pass on a few words to families of addicts.  My son is an addict and I am learning so much from Penn Foundation.

In our “Family Education Meetings”, I hear the same thing over and over.  People think that this can’t happen to them, that their child can’t be an addict or alcoholic.  You have to be realistic, it CAN happen to you.  You just have to be informed and learn all you can.  Addiction is not something you can figure out on your own.  There’s a whole process you go through to understand it.

Take “enabling” for example.  There’s a fine line between what is enabling and what is not.  I take the hard line and won’t give my son anything at this point.  My wife takes a softer line and still buys him groceries from time to time.  We each have to set our own limits, there is no definative answer that applies to everyone.

I encourage the friends and families of people in addiction to go to Penn Foundations Family Education classes on Sundays.  They’re free, open to the public and they’re value is limitless.