I’m so sick of fighting parents and I want to leave but I fear for my brother
DEAR DEIDRE: WHEN my parents aren’t drinking and fighting, they are all over each other.
I’m 17 and sick of it. I would have left home if it wasn’t for my little brother who is eight.
My mum and dad are awful together.
They are alcoholics. When they have been boozing they become verbally abusive to me and my brother and fight with each other.
Mostly when they fight they’re just shouting, but on a handful of occasions they have fought physically.
The last time I got a cab with my brother and went to my grandparents.
The next day Mum promised to get help and insisted it was over with Dad. I believed her.
Two days later they were planning a loft conversion so they could enjoy a floor “all to themselves”.
DEIDRE SAYS: The two of them are co-dependent, meaning they feed off one another’s addiction.
Talk to your mum again when she is sober and explain you are worried your brother could get taken into care.
Ask to move in with your grandparents until they face up to their demons.
That will hopefully give them the jolt they need.
For someone so young, this is a great deal of responsibility to handle on your own.
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Tell your grandparents you need their help.
My support pack Dealing With A Problem Drinker explains where to find support.
We Are With You (wearewithyou.org.uk) can help all of you.