Enablers...What it looks like.

Enablers
Enablers are the people in the addicts life who make it easier for them to continue their pattern of chemical abuse. Anyone involved in the alcoholic/addicts life can be an enabler: husbands, wives, children, parents, employers, coworkers, or healthcare workers. These are normally the people who want the addict to change the most. It hurts to see the addict in pain, so the enabler does things to help reduce that pain. Here are a couple of examples of how people enable addicts:

• Borrow money to pay off bills or damages as a result of the alcoholic's behavior;
• Make excuses for their inability to perform at work;
• Attempt to get them out of a drunk driving charge or other serious situation; and Lie to others about their intoxication.
• Lend money that they know will be spent on alcohol or drugs;
• Take over the addicts chores because he or she is too drunk or high to do them;
• Lie to others to make their home life seem normal.
• The addict may be the one asking you to enable the addictive behavior, either explicitly demanding things or blaming you for a lack of support. A common reaction by friends and family is, "What is wrong with me that this person is behaving like this?" This is the beginning of the enabling cycle, which escalates beyond the control of the enabler. It ends only when the enabler finally realizes the addiction is not controllable.