Families soon learn there are few perfect answers when it comes to drug addiction help. Every addict and circumstance are different, but one thing is familiar – addiction affects the entire family. The pain and chaos will impact everyone within that close circle of family and friends. Family treatment, including drug rehab will begin by setting limits for you and the addict.
Give Up the Role of Rescuer
At times we feel powerless to stop the destruction addicts do unto themselves. With only the best intentions we try to keep them out of harm’s way and often do the wrong thing. Providing money to go to a movie or money to go out with friends to eat only minimizes the consequences. According to experts for outpatient drug addiction treatment Everett WA doctors say certain kinds of help only covers up what they are really doing.
Families and friends do not understand the dynamics of drug addiction, and even when they know of a problem, they often want to cover it up instead of bringing it out into the open.
Seeking Addiction Treatment
It’s not unlikely for the first plan-of-attack to include threatening or pleading. Yet, in spite of this approach, addicts usually continue to abuse drugs or alcohol. The primary reason is because coercion doesn’t work.
⦁ Do not rescue a drug addict because they will probably fall right back into the same negative outcomes. Rather let them experience the full impact of their disease. Addicts must realize the extent of their illness and hit rock bottom before they can recover. Yes, there will be many negative consequences but each and every time they are rescued it will only delay the inevitable.
⦁ Do not support the addiction by financially supporting the addict. Money is every addict’s salvation. Relatives with the best intentions typically give a little money, but it always serves the wrong purpose. Addicts certainly will not recover as long as they have money to buy more alcohol and drugs.
⦁ Do not allow the addict to manipulate and blame you into becoming the underlying cause of their addiction. This only distracts family and friends from the important issue of the illness itself. People suffering from drug addiction are on this teeter-totter level of anger. They get angry, initiate threats and look for pity. The family then rolls over and gives in. Avoid these reactions and stay strong.
⦁ Always seek expert help. Keep in mind, addicts develop a deep physical and psychological dependence on drugs. Stopping “cold turkey” can be unhealthy. For example, people who use cocaine experience severe abdominal pain when they stop the drug. Likewise, cocaine produces a euphoric state, when the effect wears off withdrawal accompanied by anxiety, irritation, general disturbance of the nervous system, among other effects become hazardous, thus requiring hospitalization. To avoid these feelings, the addict most likely will simply start using again. Addicts require professional addiction treatment from a reputable drug treatment center.
Addiction is a progressive illness that quickly becomes worse if not brought under control. Many addicts feel self-help is the best alternative as opposed to attending an outpatient drug treatment center, but it’s not. You cannot simply treat the symptoms; you must treat the problem(s) that caused the person to use drugs in the first place.
