I'm a big fan of the show TrueLife on Mtv.  And recently there was an episode about teens and young adults who were trying to find their parents who had abandoned them.  One of the girls was graduating college and really wanted her mom to be there, even though she hadn't been in her life for many years.  She finally found her mom and was asking around the druggie part of town, trying to see if anyone had seen or heard from her.  Her mom was living in a field alongside the freeway and was staying in a tent with her stuff everywhere.  It was really sad to even watch, but I can't imagine how the daughter felt.  She treated her mom to new clothes and a hotel room, and lunch everyday.  But it was so horrible, when the daughter brough up paying for a month at rehab, the mom just got up and started walking away like she had just been insulted or completely disowned.  The mom was 46 years old, living in a tent, and refused to even give her daughter the time of day when the topic of rehab was brought up. 
   Watching this show and seeing things from both points of views made me realize how some people are so incredibly addicted, that they cannot even see when someone is really reaching out to them. 

The defensiveness is a way of completely avoiding the situation.  Her mom was probably living on the streets for many years, and that lifestyle is so hard to pull yourself out of.  She's probably considered rehab before, and getting help at a shelter, and may have even been offered help before.  But obviously she had already made up her mind.  In these situations, it's best to stage an Intervention and don't take NO for an answer.  It takes a lot of convincing, loving words.. but hopefully the person will see the brighter side and realize that sobriety is a better way of living.

That's so sad. I would feel so terrible if I was that daughter seeing her mother in a tent and refusing to get help! I agree with the comment above me she shouldn't have taken no for an answer. I would keep trying. The daughter should tell her that this lifestyle that she is living is unhealthy, and she is her hope at a normal lifestyle. She should let her know that she wants her mother a part of her life especially because she has been gone for so long. I'm sure the mother loved the feeling of sleeping on a normal bed and having nice clean clothes to wear, she could start having that everyday and enjoying all the beautiful things in life sober!

I saw the beginning of that episode, but had to leave so I missed the ending. Didn't that girls daughter not even want her to find their mom? Isn't that so sad. That just shows how badly she was hurt. Weren't the kids put into foster homes and everything when their mom left them? I can't believe after her daughter mentioned that she just upped and left. So sad. She really could have turned her life around and could have been part of her family again.

Wow she could've had a life again!  A healthy one not one where she is homeless and living in the streets! She could've had a family again, a family that loved her. It's really sad the decisions that a substance, a drug, makes you choose

I've known a few addicts who are just so use to the hard life, that complete sobriety just isn't appealing to them.  Even one of my very best friends had trouble adjusting to the sober life with everything she needed and people who loved her.  Even though she wasn't addicted to drugs and alcohol, she was addicted to partying and living a destructive lifestyle.  It took her a while to realize that living with my family and I was actually better for her, and that she was happier.  She had to come to terms with issues in her past. 
  

It's hard also when you've come from that family background..  It's feels right to just continue the pattern.  But you have to come to terms with yourself and constantly be proactive to live a better life.