is a year away from alcohol enough to quit?

my 22 year old daughter is in jail for a year for a hit and run. If she admitted what she did they would have gone easier on her but she refused. She was also drunk when the accident happened and she revealed to me she has a drinking problem. Something I was never able to see before. So I wonder, in jail you obviously won't have access to alcohol. Is one year away from it enough to be able to give it up? If so, then maybe a year in jail won't be a bad thing for her and she will learn some discipline and maybe realize because of her problem she lost her freedom.

There's probably too many factors to make a definitive claim about. But i would say it is unlikely to mean she is risk free while she may have got over a baseline craving state. Whilst in jail she may decide that she wants to quit drinking and be alcohol free. In which case she has a good chance of making a fresh start. But if she doesn't make that decision freely for herself, then its very likely that she will end up with the her drinking problems again. I think the fact that she would not admit to guilt for the accident is a concern.

It seems to me that if someone doesn't admit to guilt when the case is pretty clear, it indicates that someone doesn't take a particularly rational or responsible approach to life. However, you never know what can happen to a person in a year. She might have done some deep thinking and be ready for a big change.

I am sorry you have suffered for your daughters mistakes. Life can be tough on parents. You can't make her do anything she doesn't want to do but you can support her in making better choices in the future i guess. She might be willing to go to AA or to talk about her problems with a therapist. But if you try to force these ideas on her, you probably won't get far at all.

For your own sake, you probably need to learn how to let go a bit because you can't control her.

Hi 1924,

First off, what you've gone through and continue to go through is something no parent wants to experience. I'm so sorry you've had to endure it!

To answer your question, I believe only your daughter knows whether or not the year of forced sobriety is enough. A large part of the reason she's been sober is because there is no access to alcohol. It might have cleared her mind long enough to properly think about her actions and how her life has been compromised. There is no telling how she'll react once put into a situation where alcohol is available again. If she has some kind of plan in place and a good support network to rely on, the chances of staying sober are higher. This is something she'd have to actively work on for the rest of her life, but many people manage to stay sober by doing that.

The choices she makes are her own. They may cause pain or pride for you and there is little you can do to interfere with them. As parents we hope our children will make the right decisions and forge a good future for themselves. Watching as they go headfirst into a path of misery is downright painful to experience. The best you can do is let her know you're there for her, be as supportive of her healthy choices as possible, and remind her of any goals she has.

I hope everything works out and that she remains healthy.

If she learns from her bad experience of being jailed for an alcohol related crime and learns how destructive her alcohol problem is, I think she can come out of jail more aware of her problem and get help for it, and hopefully avoid further problems with alcohol. Maybe there will be certain treatment options available in jail she can take advantage of.