Dealing With an Addict
If you live, work or socialize with a drug addict, you may spend a lot of time wondering how you can help this person, or whether you should help at all. Finding that line between saving an addict and saving yourself isn’t always simple, especially if the addict is your spouse, a close relative or the parent of your children. When you’re dealing with a drug addict, it’s important to remember that:
- Addiction is a disease that triggers obsessive drug seeking and drug use.
- Chemical dependence can drive the addict to lie, steal and hurt others.
- Recovery is always possible, but relapse is common.
- Family support can make a difference in a drug addict’s recovery.
- Families need their own support system to help them deal with the addict.
Finding Support and Education
Confusion, anger, frustration, fear and sadness are common emotions for people who are close to a drug addict. It’s important to remember that it’s not your responsibility to “cure” another person’s addiction, and it’s not your fault if he or she relapses after a period of abstinence. Charles P. O’Brien and A. Thomas McLellan of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychiatry compare addiction to chronic diseases like asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis because it can change the way a person thinks and behaves, and because relapsing from treatment is common.
Relapse rates among drug addicts are notoriously high. A study of methamphetamine users published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs showed that out of 98 meth users who went through a recovery program in Los Angeles County:
- About 50 percent of the study participants went back to using meth
- Out of this percentage, 36 percent went back to using after six months
- Approximately 15 percent went back to using after seven months.
- Users who had shorter treatment times also had higher relapse rates.
Drug addicts need to be professionally evaluated and may require treatment from both medical doctors and mental health professionals. You can seek education and support from self-help groups like Nar-Anon, from a counselor or social worker, or from a spiritual advisor. We can help you find treatment resources in your area, not only for the addict in our life, but for yourself. Call us today.
When Helping an Addict Turns Into Enabling
There’s often a fine line between giving a drug addict your support and enabling self-destructive behavior. How do you know when you’re enabling instead of helping?
- Your help perpetuates the addiction. Examples might be paying an addict’s rent when he’s spent all his money on drugs or letting him use your cell phone to set up deals.
- You’re covering up the addict’s behavior. If you’re often calling an addict’s boss or family to lie about her erratic behavior, you’re enabling rather than helping.
- You feel like you’re being manipulated. Addicts can be extremely manipulative. If your intuition tells you that an addict is lying to you or playing with your emotions in order to get your help, you’re probably right.
- Helping the addict endangers your own welfare. If you’re late paying your own bills because you’ve been lending money to an addict, or you’re giving him rides to sketchy neighborhoods so he can score, it’s time to stop enabling and start looking out for yourself.
Deciding When to Intervene
There’s no ideal time to get directly involved in trying to stop an addict’s self-destructive behavior. Most interventions take place when the addict’s behavior threatens his own safety or the welfare of others. The Mayo Clinic recommends that you prepare for an intervention by educating yourself about the disease of addiction, doing some research on treatment programs and seeking advice from an addiction specialist. Sometimes the only intervention that you need is an honest conversation with the addict. At other times, you may need help from a social worker, a medical professional or an addiction specialist. When you decide that it’s time to get help, build your support team before you have that talk or stage an intervention. Always keep in mind that your own physical and emotional well-being are as important as the addict’s welfare.
The Have I Got A Problem website is a free online resource to help people better understand any issues or concerns they may have about mental health or addiction. The website includes resources specifically focused to; general Mental Health, Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Insecurities, Self-harm Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Anger Management, Eating Disorders, Coping, general Addiction, Alcohol, Smoking, Gambling, Drugs, Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana (Cannabis) Ecstasy, PCP, Mephedrone, Ketamine & Crystal Meth.
The site was created to give the public information to help them understand mental health and addiction issues and to assist people in making better informed decisions about their life and personal choices.
www.haveigotaproblem.com was created and is run by 'Advising Communities’, which is a UK registered charity (Charity No. 1061055)
Downloads
Quotes
"What I have learned is that recovery is a process that involves many things and numerous variables"
Ron
MoreSend us your QuotesTips & Hints
Look for help
There are many groups and organizations available to help you overcome your addiction. Once you have set your mind to beating your addi...MoreSeek support from your family
Your family needs to be involved in your journey to fight your addiction. Only you can accomplish this important task, but you need to ...MoreNo more secrets
It’s time to clean out the closet and take inventory. No hiding because of shame. No hiding because of fear. You are not alone in you...MoreRegain Power
Many addictions are undermined because we believe we are powerless to change the situation. This is not true! You do have the power to ...MoreMake a Life Change
The first step to fight addiction is to make a decision that it is time to make a life change. That life change will reflect your desir...More More Tips & Hints