How would one go about getting someone to quit alcohol?

[Anonymous]

I always figured that people would make a positive change if something bad happened to them, but nope.

It's like if someone had a heart attack, survived, and then went straight to Burger King to celebrate surviving.

[IAteTwoFullHams]

Really, you don't. I hate it when people try to get me to quit alcohol, and all it does is damage the relationship.

You wouldn't want me up your ass about optimizing your health, would you? Giving you a bedtime and making you work out in the morning and telling you what you are and aren't allowed to eat and making sure you don't go out in the sun between 11:00 and 2:00?

[Asker]

I already do all that stuff. And the relationship is getting damaged by the alcohol. Several people in my life who have had drinking problems have gotten a stroke, developed cancer, and died.

Good friends want the best for others in their life. If it's going to save a future with more precious moments to share, then it would have been worth the hassle of getting them to quit.

At this point, it's not even about if the alcohol tastes good. Peer pressure, a belief they aren't fun without it, and escaping their problems play a factor. Is it a good time when you have to scrape them off a dirty floor or be a babysitter so they don't get mugged or sexually assaulted?

[DryGermanGuy]

From my own observations, >90% of these people (drugs, alcohol) will have to crash into rock bottom on their own, to be - somewhat - open to external suggestions.

An underage person might learn something from seeing an alcohol-poisoned beer corpse getting resuscitated in the ICU.

[Guy13]

You can not as they will quit once things are bad enough to them...