WILL A HUNGER STRIKE HELP?

I WANT to go on a hunger strike. I am a mother, desperate to save my
25-year-old daughter from heroin.

I know what it's like to lose a child. I have buried two sons in four
months (my partner lost his son, 27, and I lost my son, 22, to suicide in
May). I have another son, 19, and he has no addictive habits, but my
daughter is out of control and in self-destruct mode.

We have been to George O'Neil's clinic, First Step and Teen Challenge. We
have seen many counsellors and we have had supervised home detox during our
annual leave. Everyone tells me the same thing. She won't succeed unless
she wants to come off the stuff.

How do I get her to want to? I put down some boundaries last week and she
fled to Melbourne. She was found on the street unconscious from an
overdose. Her friend put her on a plane yesterday. He is burnt out trying
to help her.

What can I do? Can anyone give me some real advice? I have tried locking
her up at home, but she goes back with the same crowd of people and comes
home in a state. At the moment she is dirty, covered in sores, thin,
severely depressed and in a state of recklessness that frightens me.

Many people think that "if the children are on drugs it's because the
parents have failed". We are both hard-working people. If anything we have
given our kids too much. If I went on a hunger strike to demonstrate to my
daughter the lengths I would go to help her, would this wake her up? Are
there any other mothers in Perth, or for that matter in Australia, who
would join me and try to bring our precious children back?

Can I turn my daughter around and push her emotional buttons for a change
and force her to commit to a program and stick to it? Is there a way to
change her focus? Are there any other readers who will join me on a hunger
strike to help our children?

NAME and ADDRESS supplied.