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Hi Guys, My alcoholic son lives with us in a basement bedroom and the last couple of nights I heard voices. coming from down there at 3:30 in the morning. He was moving around down there, swearing, and ranting, sounding very angry. It was scary, he is usually quite mild mannered and sweet even when drunk. I did not know if he had a mental break or what. The next day, I asked him about being up and talking to himself and he does not remember, so guess he was in a blackout. ANyway, he did it again last night. It is very disturbing and scary to me. Has anyone else experienced this....and could he harm us in this blackout state. I sure would appreciate any feedback on this. It is already a stressful situation without these new developments. Thanks for the support, Theresa
I'm sorry to hear this is happening to your son. Alcoholism is "cunning and baffling" as they say in program. I would read all I can about blackouts. They are the worst part of this disease because the A doesn't remember what happened. I know from experience. I hate to say this, but you could be in danger and I would get him to a rehab if you can. Yes, even if he doesn't want to go...he needs to know he could become more harmful.
Both my son and H have had blackouts which eventually landed them in prison and jail. My son sounds like your's...when he's sober he is kind and even sweet. Now my son is two-thirds of the way thru a 12 year PRISON sentence for assault with a gun that caused serious injuries to two men just sitting in their car. During one of his blackouts. He remembers nothing about it. He is now 34 and was a single father.
My H was in an accident which he doesn't remember. He had been in AA for years. Then he was accused of filing a false report. When he crossed the border from our home in Mexico he was arrested and sent to an LA jail for two weeks without knowing why, and still did not remember when he was taken to the state we are from. I'm still with him but it is difficult and the "wondering" if it can happen again haunts me.
Every "accident" or incident involving serious obnoxious behavior with the two A's in my life involved blackouts. They should always be taken seriously. It is so hard to convince them of what happened and I have been accused of lying about it.
To be honest I have to say that once I was in a blackout. I figured it out for myself. I was in my late 20's, driving home from a comedy show in Nevada and had too much to drink (with my mother). I awoke on the floor of my bedroom and could not remember how I got there. I then reasoned that I must have driven drunk. I was lucky I got home alive.
Yes, you should be very concerned. It is a real thing, and it will happen again since this is a progressive disease. You might want to check with other family members to find out if blackouts have ever occurred to them. They have many times in my family. I don't know if its a genetic trait.
I can totally relate to your share. My son is an addict, also has the basement bedroom. His drug of choice is anything hallucinigenic. So when high he has conversations with people who aren't there and sees things that arent there. The first time this happened we were not aware this was his drug of choice and seriously thought he was having a psychotic break. Scared us to death. We had to call 911. He has no memory of anything he said or did and being hospitalized for an OD only served him in the way he knew not to take as much as he had that night. It didn't stop his drug use, in fact he spiriled out of control very soon after that. 3 times he was hospitalized only to go out and use again once he sobered up. As for the alcholic your sons behavior is not uncommon at all. It's a progressive disease and only gets worse when left untreated My only suggestion for you is to please find some alanon meetings in your area, attend and work the steps or join us here on line for our meetings. Alanon has been my only saving grace during this awful time in our lives. You are not alone, we can understand as no one else can as we know how you are feeling. You will gain so much insight as to furthering your knowledge about this disease and how others have learned to cope in a healthy way, and take care of themselves. Blessings to you
This is very common with my AW when she has been drinking and espcially when her sleep is messed up from the alcohol. She will rant like that for a few days in a row and when I mention it to her, she will not remember anything. It is scary and another source of stress that you don't need, but take care of yourself the best that you can and that will help in dealing with everything.
