“Your loved one is headed straight to hell. If you don’t take care of yourself, you are headed straight to hell too!”

You should have seen my shocked face. We don’t talk religion in here! And we surely don’t speak in the second person. What the heck?!?!

Turned out the speaker was speaking metaphorically, not literally. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is an ever-intensifying hell, and being a family member obsessed with someone in addiction is also an ever-intensifying hell. I can’t save them, but I can save me by practicing a program, changing the focus back to me and trusting in my Higher Power.

The speaker clarified that’s what they meant, and I felt a lot better after that.