Hey all,

It's been a while since I posted here... But I'm back because I think I need a little help with something.

I have a friend who has been going through hard times, she has a checkered past like mine; a history of alcohol abuse among other things. She is convinced that going back to drinking because it "makes her happy" is not going to hurt her in the long run. I don't want her to hurt herself, or even be unhappy, but it seems that things are not going to get better any time soon. She's convinced that after almost 6 months sobriety that this depression is too much for her and she is going to fall, she hasn't opened up to other people, I'm the only one she's talked to and though she is confident she can control her drinking but I don't believe she can, it isn't that I don't trust and believe in her, it's that I've been there before and so has she and nothing good comes out of it. I've kept her ok for going on 3 weeks but almost every night I'm on the phone with her for hours trying to convince her that everything will be alright and that she can make it through this, and I meet her against my parent's grounding restrictions to find her shaking and in tears. It hurts me to see her like this and I want her to get better, I know she can make it through this and tell her that but she doesn't seem to want to accept it.

I'm really running out of ideas and that's what I'm looking for here, I'm trying what I think should work, what I think would work with me, don't know how much longer I can do this without going to extremes I don't want to take. I will if she does what I'm trying to prevent, take the measure of going to authorities about this.

help her find some other way to get her feelings out. if it doesn't get better find professional help for her.