This isnt something I ever really planned on telling you guys at isfat
BUUUTTT
sinse I have NO idea what to do here we go...

Hi I am Lily. I am 14. I live alone with my alcoholic mother.
At the moment I am at a loss of what to do with her.
Tonight I found 3 empty vodka bottles...
3, 375 ml vodka bottles... in totall thats... 33 standard drinks...
Now I'm sorry but I dont know what to do with her anymore.
She started drinking at 11:00AM this morning...
Shes been doing this for 3 years..
And goes in and out of a psych hospital all the time..
Shes tried to kill herself 5 times and suffers from depression.
I live alone with her and we dont have any family around
AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Its such a huge responsibility...
Im only 14 and I have told my nanna but my whole family is so sick of my mum and her problems...
Ive tried and tried countless times to stop mum from drinking..
Stealing the alcohol...
Getting into PHYSICAL fights over it...
Emotional fights ALL the time. We ALWAYS yell at each other.
I dont even want to know what my neighbours think...
Im so sick of this..
I mean.. 33 drinks in one day could kill a person couldnt it?
Another thing, I stay at home watching her all the time so my social life is like ZERO cus I'm scared she will try and kill herself while I am away..
Yes she has done that before
I just dont know what to do with her and at the moment she is on the lounge
She passed out about 2 hours ago and just woke up and she cant open one eye and she cant talk
And I want to call an ambulance but I am to scared they will think I am stupid and I will get in trouble and Im really scared
When a person drinks 2 bottles of vodka a day
Shes gotta get sick!!
HER POOR LIVER?!?
I dont know what to do.
Im sick of this.
AND IVE TRIED TO HELP HER SO MANY TIMES AND NOTHING WORKS..

Am I even allowed to post stuff like this?
WELL I AM.
Cus your older than me and I dont know what to do.
Im sorry, you dont have to believe me but I dont know what to do and I am scared...
SOrry
Thanks?
Lily xo

CALL AN AMBULANCE. HOLY SHIT. There is a strong possibility that she has suffered alcohol poisoning. Omfg, IT IS MUCH BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. QUICKLY.

I want you all to know I feel really DUMB posting on a forum about something so serious but I have no idea what to do..
And I dont know if I should call an ambulance..
Shes been like this before and been okay
I'm on hold on kids help line...
I just. GRRRRRRRR...
Sorry people...
I AM REALLY SCARED TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!!
Where will I stay??!?!?!?

Lily, don't feel dumb!

You're scared and you care about her, so don't feel dumb.

That said, I'm not sure we're really in the best position to give you the most effective advice with this one.

I highly suggest talking to a close friend about it, who might be more familiar with the situation and could be able to give you some advice with a bit more understanding.

I'd just like to remind everyone that the advice given by ISFAT users is not coming from professional counselors or authorities - it is being suggested by teens, young adults and people just like you. So before acting on advice given, please think about it for yourself.

With that in mind, I'll say that in a situation like this - it's my belief that you should trust your own instincts and follow your gut feeling. If you think an ambulance should be called, don't be scared at all - insanekilla is right; it is better to be safe than sorry, and no one will think you are an idiot for following that.

Anyway, you were absolutely right to call Kids Help Line, that's what they're there for... and I'm sure we'd love to know what they say.

Just my opinion, but if you've tried to help her countless times before and nothing has worked, perhaps its time to seek external help?

Anyway, we'll try to be here for you the best we can!

Let us know how everything goes.

Kids help line was defiently a right choice. I would suggest ringing a close older family member or even a good neighbor. Either that or an ambulance

I agree with insanekilla as well - an ambulance is definitely the best option.
From what you've said, and from what I understand, I imagine your mother needs help, desperately. It's not fair for you to have to deal with that, especially if it's been happening for 3 years now.

Maybe an intervention? The people who matter most to your mother, telling them how they feel about her drinking, all at once. It's intense, but it might work?
And if not, like evil said, I think external help is the only solution, especially if you want it to stop and she's not taking any actions to make that happen.

Regardless what happens, to you or to your mother should you choose to take action, I'm almost 100% positive that you will have somewhere to stay, with people that care about you or your cause. You may feel like nobody is there, but you'd be suprised =) You mentioned you have family? Friends?

Don't worry about your social life. The friends who care about you most, and the ones who understand, will stick around for the hard parts. That's what make them so great! Hold on to them real tight, and never let them go. I'd rather two best friends than ten accquaintances.

Keep us posted, girly girl. Chin up !

OMG THE LADY SAID THAT!!
Omgosh guys im sorry for dumping this kinda stuff on you..
And yeah I did call a close friend [Luke] and he told me to call kids help line..
The lady was really helpfull and she made a lot of sense...
She wanted to call an ambulance but we didnt in the end
I got my mum up and walking a bit too so she is okay
Again, I am sorry!!
But yeah... then we just talked for about half an hour about how I was feeling
And she said it was a HUGE responsibility for a 14 year old
But to be quite honest I am so used to it so it doesnt seem TOO hard.
But when Im scared about mums saftey its like REALLY BAD..
Otherwise I am fine being the mum in my mum and my relationship
Probably doesnt make to much sense...
She said that I was handling it really well, that I was mature and that I needed to seek exturnal help
She wants me to wring the department of child services or something..
Should I?
I dont know, I dont want to be taken away and I am scared.. Yet again. WOW IM SUCH A WOOS.
As for my mum, she is sleeping it off.
Its weird, she drinks like 3 bottles of vodka, takes like 68 Valium tablets and NEVER throws up. I have NEVER seen her throw up.
You have no idea how good it is to get this all off my chest...
The kids help line lady said that I should try and tell another adult, but I have, Ive told my nanna and yeah...
She was really good about the whole thing, although she ALMOST called an ambulance.. which is something I REALLY didnt want, becuase then mum would have to go to Belmont and I would have to go to the Gold COast and live with nanna/look after aunty aud..
But yeah.. we ended the convo talking about shopping which was good.
She says I can call back for her anytime..
As for me? I am like DEALING with stufffff...
I dont know HOW I feel I am already like..
Im in a mode where I cant feel my feelings if that makes sense..
Probably not
AGAIN I AM SO SORRY!!
What should I do in the long term?
btw, you dont have to believe me!

[P.S Georgia, cus your the only one I know in real life from this forum PLEASE keep it to yourself, Love you Gigi!!]

You need a mother. You need parenting figures. If you're going to raise your mother, who will raise you? You need to learn all the stuff only parents can teach you. I think you should ring child services. For your sake. do it for you. Your mother told you to ring them for a reason. For all her shortcomings, she has the wisdom to see that you need to do this. It'll be better for both of you to seek help.

The lady on kids help line told me to call child services!

Oh shit. I didn't see that. I misread it. My bad! Well the lady from child services is correct. It's better for the both of you. YOU need responsible figures to help you learn the various nuances of life. Don't put yourself through this; it's NOT worth it.

Agreed.

I can't help but feel that you've got this sort of dependancy on the kids help line, and it's occuring to me, that maybe you're relying so much on them, because you feel you can't rely on your mother - which only re-enforces what insanekilla said that much more.

You have to stop loading your problems onto other people, when the answer is looking you directly in the face. I don't mean to sound horrible, but everyone here, including the lady from the kids help line, have told you the exact same thing, because we all know what we'd do in the situation.

I know it may seem hard. I know you don't want to do it. I know that you're looking out for both you and your mother. But that's just life, yanno? You'll be afraid at times, but you can't run away from your problems.

It shouldn't be about what other people have suggested you do, but it's what you know is right, and what you know you have to do.

The lady at the kids help line can't continue being your mother.

To be perfectly honest ive only called kids help line ONCE like that.
Which was tonight.
Ive been on the web councelling twice for a TOTALLY un-related thing...
And ive called once before that cus of the prank call thing and I didnt know what to do with that but thats a totally different story..
And I spose I WANT to call the department stuff but like...
Scared?!?! I HATE stuff like that, I am a really shy person.
I have my own councellor who knows all about it...
I think I should tell her I want to talk to someone else.. cus maybe that might help...

Well, deary, you'll never know until you do something =)

go for the gold!

My advice (again not a councillor just a fellow young person) firstly check out http://reachout.com.au/ they've got fact sheets on this sort of thing (like Helping a friend with a drinking problem and Conflict with your parents, among others). They also have a forum where people who deal with this sort of thing far more regularly than us frequent. They'll give you a good second opinion.
Also call child services, it's there for a reason and as others in this thread have said a good parent figure is important.

Take care.

Lily, now that tonight's drama has subdued down I strongly urge you to seek further assistance in dealing with your situation. Taking care of your mother is one thing, but you need to look after yourself. Think about you and think about how your life is affected by this.

You can't always run away from your emotions. Because you run and run and you find yourself right where you started, only it's more painful because you think you've done something by running away but now the problem's worse.

You may not know this, but life's not supposed to be like this. It's not supposed to be this hard. And it won't get any easier if you don't find help. You're can't deal with this alone and no one expects you to.

Im mostly scared about whats going to happen to mum when I grow up and move out..

Okie dokie woke up this morning and mum has ONE HELL OF A HANGOVERRR!!
She is like... She is very sick, I feel sorry for her.. Anyways people I just want to apologise again and yeah sorry!
AND THANKYOU SOOO MUCH
Believe it or not you guys helped A LOT
Especially two girls, love you guys heaps and yeah..
I'll keep you updated on whats happening if you want...
but yeah you might not want that..
Thanks again!
Lily x

We want to know what happens, and do seek help.

everytime i see this thread scrolling down i am reminded of ode to my family - the cranberries. man that is a great song.

discuss with your counsellor about child services. they know you better in this situation than all of us. also, even if you do call child services, they won't necessarily take you away. in the end, child services will try to do what they think is best for YOU. if you tell them how you feel about moving away from your mum and stuff they will take that into consideration. they are on your side in the longrun even though they may be annoying buggers sometimes. you can't deal with your own problems ontop of your mum's as well. sometimes you just need to stop worrying about others and worry about yourself (i know you love your mum heaps but there is a limit to how much crap a teenager can handle.)

as i said. discuss situation and how you feel with counsellor/child services and lets pray everything turns out okay in the long run!!

hang in there. *sends multiple hugs* you are strong willed. i know you can work this stuff out.