Depressed alcoholic relative help!

[IsabelleRinging]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can give some advice please. I have an auntie who is retired and in her sixties. She lives alone, has never married and is single. She has no friends that we know of and she seems to have given up. I am not close to her, and my parents are too old and live too far away to be able to help her.

I am sure she is depressed and we suspect she is drinking. She is not taking care of herself, not eating, her house absolutely stinks and is filthy, and she refuses to visit her doctor. She won't answer the phone and she lives quite a distance from us so it is not really practical for us to just pop in and try to help.

What do we do? I feel we can't just leave her to drink herself to an early grave, but don't know what the alternative is? Are there services which can help her? (baring in mind she refuses help and won't admit she has a problem).

Ah well, Just thought I would ask.

Anybody?

Your own G.P. or alcoholics annonymous might be able to point you in the right direction. Can you text her and ask her when you could call?

Sorry to sound bleak but I'm not sure what can be done unless she asks for help herself.

I'd try and get hold of social services in her area, but beware, they are incredibly overstretched and will attempt to get you/rest of family to take responsibility for her.

Se doesn't have a mobile phone, and she refuses to answer the phone. We leave messages, and sometimes she will respond a few days later and sometimes she doesn't. My parents have been to visit her, but it's quite a drive and sometimes she is not there, they are elderly themselves. My dad is the only relative she is in contact with as she has no immediate family of her own and he is not fit enough himself to take any responsibility for her.

Do social services have a duty of care for people like this?