If these unhelpful and even harmful roles were the only ones open to you, the situation would look hopeless. But there's something you can do. You can take on a positive role, one that can reverse the process of deterioration and lead toward recovery for the chemically dependent person and for you and your family. This is the role of the intervener. The process is called intervention. It was discovered and developed many years ago by Vernon E. Johnson, founder of the Johnson Institute. It has literally been a lifesaver for thousands of chemically dependent persons and their families.

Actually, this page has prepared you to be a successful intervener. If you're really absorbed its contents you now have a deeper understanding of what chemical dependence is, how to recognize it, and how it affects the victim and those around him.

You know that his defense system, his self-delusion, has made it impossible for him to face reality without outside help. You know, too, that despite good intentions, you and your family have probably contributed to his dependence. But you have no irrational guilt feelings; you realize that this problem is truly his problem (no one can actually drive someone to drink). You understand that he must be brought face to face with the fact that he has a progressive, deadly disease that's wrecking his whole life and others' lives as well.

Before discussing intervention, let's dismiss tow invariably useles approaches.

INAPPROPRIATE CONFRONTATION: One wife, asked if she ever had confronted her husband about his condition, snapped back, "Have I! There isn't anything left in the house to throw at him!" Such an approach just doesn't work. The alcohlic sees it as pun ishment, and he already feels he deserves to be punished. So when his wife punished him this way, he feels good because he can replace his guilt feelings with self-pity and resentment--and go right on drinking.

MISGUIDED SYMPATHY: Many alcoholics report being approached with "Dear, you really ought to quit. You can't handle it the way you used to." This weak approach does nothing to bring the victim to face his situation; the answer is simply "Of cours e I can handle it."

Intervention is a process in which persons close to a chemically dependent person meet with him and lovingly but firmly get him to face reality: the reality of his chemical dependence and of what it's doing to him and ot others close to him.

We've seen how the dependent person unconsciously builds up defenses that shield him from facing the painful reality of his situation. Intervention breaks down those defenses and lets reality shine through long enough for the dependent person to see i t, accept it, and agree to get help.

What follows is a very brief summary of how to do an intervention, typically with some professional help.

To shatter self-delusion usually takes persons who are so close to the sick person that he considers the relationship essential to his self-image. This usually means, above all, family members, close friends (who can be particularly effective because the sick person doesn't see them as part of a family problem), and an employer (who can be important because so many persons consider job performance as the ultimate test of their worth).

The factual recounting of data compels the sick person to face reality--to experience the full impact of what his dependence is costing himself and those around him. There should be no emotional outbursts, no nagging, nor any ignoring of his bizarre c onduct. There should be no vague generalizations ("You're drinking too much")--only hard facts. "I found another empty bottle in the basement clothes hamper yesterday." "The Andersons said you've been very withdrawn this last year." "Do you remember f alling down in the bathroom at 2 a.m. Wednesday?" "This is the third time this month we've had to break a dinner engagement." "Your supervisor said your work on the Thompson contract was really sloppy."

This sober presenting of facts is what can crack the sick person's almost-impenetrable defenses. Facts force him to realize that his drinking or other drug use and nothing else is what has caused this crisis and that the responsibility is his .. This confrontation with reality is painful and often causes severe depression. But it does so precisely because it's breaking through his defenses and helping him face the reality of his condition.

There should be no moralizing, no accusations, no reproaches. Such tactics not only turn off the sick person (who can handle them easily); they also implicity deny the basic truth that chemical dependence is a disease; after all, we don't reproach som eone for having cancer. Instead, the group expresses genuine love and concern over what his drinking or using is doing to him and to those around him. And the group shows strong hope; he can lick the problem.

If the person's defenses crack and he promises to quit altogether, try to get him to accept professional help, because good intentions easliy evaporate. Professionals will know how to make the most of this temporary breakthrough. They can help the si ck person to see that he's been caught in an uncontrolled and deadly pattern of behavior that can and must stop. Quitting (which to a chemical dependent person means "for a while") isn't enough. As one alcoholic put it, "I had to s top because I couldn't quit."

This brief page won't make you an instant expert on chemical dependence. But we hope it has given you some basic understanding of what the disease is and what you can do about it. We've had to be brief on the all-important process of intervention, th e heart of the matter. Vernon E. Johnson's recent book entitled Intervention: How to Help Someone Who Doesn't Want Help, A Step-by-Step Guide for Families and Friends of Chemically Dependent Persons, published by the Johnson Institute, presents in much fuller form what has been learned about intervention over the course of many years. Your local professional experts can also acquaint you with other reading and, above all, can deal with you in perso n. Don't fail to use their expertise.