I read this interview with Libby Cataldi, author of “Stay Close: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction.” 
She talks about how she feels that interfering with her son’s failures – bailing him out of jail, paying for his fine when his car was towed, etc – actually enabled him and prolonged his period of drug use. She found it impossible to turn away, to not help him when he needed help.
Cataldi: I blame myself all of the time. Absolutely I felt like a failure, like a failure as a mother. I should have been able to fix it. I should …read more

Just caught the news report that Howard Stern, attorney and friend to Anna Nicole Smith, was brought up on charges that he helped give her prescription drugs. Basically, prosecutors said, he enabled her.
Stern is charged, of course, with being part of a ring of conspiracy. He’s suspected of helping Anna Nicole become more and more addicted to drugs so that he could possibly get her money. But what if Anna Nicole was just a regular girl?
I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if enabling became a crime all around. Not just for famous people. …read more