I skuggan av en alkoholmissbrukare

Sammanfattning: The aim of this essay is to find out how the people behind the alcohol abuser (relatives of alcoholics) are able to manage their living situation. We chose to interview six relatives to get answers to our questions. We also chose to interview a drug and alcohol therapist, to get a professional perspective. The questions we asked is were: “Can strategies based on the Coping Theory explain how the relatives manage the relationship with an alcoholic?”, “Are coping strategies always helpful to the relatives? Are there times when the coping strategies are not helpful? ” and “Does social support and professional help have any significance on how the relatives deal with their situation?”. We want to use the Coping Theory in order to investigate specific strategies that the relatives embrace. How they handle and cope with the problems that arise in everyday life. We got our selection of relatives through a so-called “snowball sampling”, which means that we used the contact network of friends' relatives. We worked based on a qualitative study, because we felt that it would fit in with what we wanted out of the essay, which were the relatives’ own experiences. The study has shown that there are different strategies that relatives use, to be able to function in their daily lives. The strategies have been helpful at several times, but there are some situations where the Coping Theory strategies have not been enough. The social support that friends, families and relatives in similar situations provide and professional support, is valuable.