Should I distance myself from an alcoholic friend?

[megzs16]

I have been good friends with this girl for about 7 years now. For most of those years, everything was great and we got along well. However, over the past year after she had gone through some pretty difficult life situations, she started to turn to alcohol as a way to cope. It's got to the point where she goes out most days of the week and drinks large amounts of alcohol until she's highly intoxicated. We are both in our 30s, so it's not like we are still in our party days. This is new behavior for her. When she gets drunk, she's been lashing out at many close friends including myself and has said some pretty hurtful things. I tried to confront her one night about the drinking and asked if she had a place to stay since she probably wasn't good to drive. She responded by yelling at me in a very aggressive, angry tone and told me to basically mind my business, and said she was capable of taking care of herself. I had never seen her act in such a way! It honestly scared me and made me feel unsafe.

I've bent over backward, trying to be there for her. I know she's been through a lot, and I wanted to continue to stay close to her but I don't know if I can handle how aggressive she's been towards me! I need advice. I've never dealt with this sort of thing before. Should I distance myself from her?

[MementoMori777]

Distance yourself to a certain point, when she's sober you have to clarify that you don't want to be around her intoxicated version of herself because she's aggressive and toxic, don't cut her off but if you are gonna hang with her, ask her and make sure she isn't going to drink, these changes of how you treat her may show her that she is toxic to be around and maybe think twice of having a drink but always ask her before hanging if she will be drinking, if she says yes you politely decline, if she asks why tell her it's cause she's drinking, she asks what's the problem with that is, you tell her.

[Steelcore5280]

At this point, you might have to distance yourself from her. You've gone the whole nine yards for this person, from what I've read, and they haven't made the effort to curb their addiction to alcohol and the issues that alcoholism brings. All she will do is bring you down with her on the sinking ship.

[hahahmm]

Yes. You are letting your feelings get in the way of good decision making. You need to do what is best for you. She is not your child. She can be responsible for her own baggage or go get a psychologist.

[manthan_5545]

Depends on you. Do you easily get influenced?

[eagle1951]

oh yeah