Addiction is a complicated condition that can significantly impact a person’s life. In 2017, 20.7 million Americans were predicted to require treatment for drug use problems. However, only 2.5 million received treatment for substance use disorder (SUD). As a result, these statistics show that drug addiction is widespread in the United States.
Furthermore, addiction necessitates specific therapies and approaches that confront the disease’s signs and root causes and the effects of substance use on many aspects of a person’s life.
So, if you’re suffering from drug abuse or substance abuse, keep reading this blog post. Here you’ll find the most practical ways to overcome your addiction.
Key Takeaways
When a substance or drug is used repeatedly despite the substantial harm caused by it, it is considered an addiction.
- It might be challenging to assist a friend or family member suffering from addiction, but you must remain optimistic since your loved one requires your assistance.
- Learn about addiction and assist your loved one by urging them to get expert help.
- To prepare yourself, learn the symptoms of drug addiction to care for and the risk factors.
- While caring for someone suffering from addiction, remember to take care of yourself.
Get in touch with Indiana Center for Recovery if you or your beloved one suffers from drug addiction.
Drug Addiction Defined
Drug addiction is an illness that affects the brain and behavior of a person, resulting in an inability to manage the use of a legal or illicit drug or medicine. Substance use disorder (SUD) is another term for drug addiction. Substances, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and nicotine, are also classified as drugs. When people are addicted, they may continue to take the substance despite its negative consequences.
Substance abuse is a spectrum disorder that can be calm, moderate, or extreme. It is characterized by an overwhelming urge to use the drug, increased tolerance to the drug/substance, or withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued.
A person can have more than one drug use problem, such as cocaine use disorder and alcohol use disorder (AUD), simultaneously. Substance use disorders may severely affect your physical health, relationships, and quality of life. It is also potentially fatal.
Furthermore, the danger of addiction and the rate at which you get addicted vary for each drug or substance. Some medicines, such as opioid pain relievers, are more dangerous and lead to addiction more quickly than others. Seeking care as soon as you feel you are suffering from addiction is critical.
Causes of Addiction
A range of causes and risk factors can all play a role in developing a drug use disorder. These might include:
- Family battles or violence.
- Inadequate parental supervision.
- Abuse or neglect in the past.
- There is a lot of familial strife
- An existing mental health issues
- A family history of substance misuse.
- Beginning substance abuse at a young age.
- Exposure to excessive substance advertising (like alcohol).
- Drugs and alcohol are easily accessible, especially at a young age.
Moreover, you can examine the primary cause behind addiction formation via therapy, counseling, other treatment methods, and coping mechanisms. After finding out the reason, the recovery can begin. Because addiction affects everyone differently, the path to addiction treatment will differ for each individual.
Fortunately, various specialist rehab kinds and treatment programs are available to meet each individual’s needs.
Effects of Addiction on Family
Alcohol and drug addiction is a common problem in our culture, with an estimated 50% of all Americans knowing someone who has suffered from a substance use disorder. Indeed, more than one out of every ten children in the United States lives with at least one adult with a drug use issue.
The long-term consequences of alcohol and drug misuse on family members can be devastating. Children are more likely to grow up in a family with a parent with an addiction or drug abuse problem. Other implications of having one family member with a drug use problem include impaired communication and a higher chance of interpersonal aggression.
You may need participation in problematic behavior patterns such as codependency and enabling if you live with someone with a drug use issue. Codependency is a pattern of conduct in which you try to fix others without expressing your needs and desires. If you are codependent, you may prioritize your allegiance to others over your wishes, even if doing so damages you.
Moreover, codependent conduct can support your loved one’s drug or alcohol usage, allowing them to continue consuming without suffering consequences. Calling your loved one’s workplace and informing them your loved one is unwell when they are drunk is an example of enabling behavior.
When you are close to your friend or family member who has drug abuse difficulties, you may experience stress and feel overwhelmed by your duties, as well as sadness or worry.
Tips To Help an Addicted Person
Helping a loved one battling substance abuse is complex, and no solution can instantly help your loved one quit using. However, here are some tips to assist a loved one in overcoming their drug addiction:
Learn About Addiction
Educate yourself about addiction, including how it develops and the symptoms it causes. Recognize the illness process of the addict. Find out how it affects your family and friends. Knowledge is power, and it may assist you in understanding yourself and your loved one better.
Nowadays, the internet is one of the best and great options for gathering information about anything. If you want to know about addiction, then Google should be your priority. The public library and the internet have enormous information for education, groups, support, treatment, etc.
So, until you don’t know about the addiction, you can’t help anyone overcome it; that is why it is crucial to learn about it.
Communication
You may have heard that communication is the key to solving every problem. This phenomenon can work for addiction, too, if you implement it carefully. Productive conversations with an addicted person can result in a positive change.
Moreover, there are some dos and don’ts of communication with an addicted person that you should keep in mind.
Do
- Be patient
- Offer to accompany them to the doctor’s clinic or an appointment
- Communicate your concerns by stating facts rather than your point of view
- Provide assistance, including information on therapy, how it works, and how it can help them to quit using drugs
Don’t
- Do not force the individual to quit
- Don’t judge or condemn
- Don’t scream or act aggressively toward them
- Do not forget your own needs. Remember to take care of yourself.
Do Not Enable
Enabling a family member’s addiction can take various forms, some of which you may not realize are enabling them. You and your family must recognize the habits and actions that will allow your drug-addicted loved one to continue in this harmful state.
Enabling may range from allowing the addicted family member to reside in your house and misuse substances or continue to engage in these behaviors while there to something as basic as making excuses for the individual. Denying someone you care about primary care or dignity may appear to be a cruel act. However, understanding your enabling behavior and taking action to change it takes a lot of love.
Lastly, these steps can assist your loved one in recovery. Understanding that now is not the time to blame is just as crucial as recognizing supporting behavior. It is now time to take action.
Encourage Them To Seek Help
The earlier addiction is addressed, like with other disorders, the better. Expect denial or excuses about why they can’t or won’t get therapy. Maintain your affirmation that they get treatment for their addiction, but prevent making them feel guilty or humiliated.
Another possibility is to organize an intervention for your loved one. Although they can be tough to carry out, an intervention may be precisely what your loved one requires if they are deeply involved in their addiction. Consider hiring an intervention specialist to assist you with this procedure.
Moreover, if the sufferer is unwilling to go for treatment, you can motivate them to join support or family therapy groups.
Seek Support for Yourself
Seeing someone you care about suffer may be devastating. Chronic stress affects your body, mind, and soul. You must get treatment for yourself as well. Consider seeing a therapist or an addiction counselor or joining a support group like Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, or SMART Recovery for family and friends.
Being with others who understand what you’re going through is therapeutic and empowering. Dr. Oesterle compares it to putting on your oxygen mask first because when you start taking care of yourself, you’re in much better form to take care of the person you love.
Treatment for Addiction
You may begin your substance use treatment by speaking with a medical professional, researching available choices, and discussing these possibilities with a friend or loved one. Some of the treatment options are below.
Medical Detoxification
Detoxification is the procedure through which a person clears drugs from their body in a safe, supervised environment. Detoxification is seldom enough to achieve long-term abstinence from a drug, although it is a vital first step.
Inpatient Treatment
It is also referred to as residential therapy. This therapy is successful, especially for people with more severe issues (including co-occurring disorders). Licensed residential treatment centers provide organized and intense care 24/7 a week, including secure housing and medical attention.
Outpatient Treatment
Outpatient therapy allows people to continue attending school, working, and spending time at home with their families while getting addiction rehabilitation and care. It is a type of drug and alcohol abuse therapy and recovery in which the patients are treated at home.
Outpatient treatment is typically defined as mental health services or medical therapy that does not need more than a 24-hour hospital stay. Even people who stay in the hospital overnight but return home within 24 hours may be termed outpatients.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) encourages clients to question and investigate repeated ideas to eliminate harmful ones. CBT can be used to treat multiple problematic drug use disorders. It can assist people with developing coping skills, detecting dangerous circumstances and determining what to do about them, and preventing relapse.
Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) teaches individuals how to manage their emotions to prevent self-destructive behaviors caused by strong, powerful emotions. DBT involves four skill sets: distress patience, emotion regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness.
12-Step Facilitation
The 12-Step program promotes continued abstinence by engaging people in recovery with 12-Step peer support groups. Several different 12-Step fellowship varieties, including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, host meetings
Family Therapy
It can also be part of therapy or aftercare for someone suffering from a drug use problem. During family therapy, family members learn what they should and should not do to assist their loved one in recovering from drug addiction.
Furthermore, family therapy may provide you with the assistance you need to deal with the issue with your loved one while they work on their recovery from substance misuse.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I help someone struggling with alcohol or drug addiction?
Assisting someone who is suffering from drug addiction is not an easy task. You cannot regulate a person’s substance usage or force them to do anything. You may express your worries and support, such as offering to accompany them to a treatment evaluation or encouraging them to join support groups.Assure them that rehabilitation treatment for persons who want to quit works and that substance use problems may be effectively handled. It is critical to underline that therapy is required to restore brain function impairment caused by and encourages compulsive, recurrent drug use.
What can be done to support someone on a journey to overcome addiction?
You may make a significant difference in a person’s rehabilitation as a family member or friend. If your loved one refuses your assistance, do not force it. Forcing someone unwilling to change rarely works. Instead, remain patient and remind them that you can assist them when they are ready.Suppose your loved one is willing to help. In that case, there are several ways you may aid in their recovery, such as volunteering to assist them in locating a treatment plan or visiting a support group together.
How to talk with an addicted person?
Never attempt to have this conversation while they’re drunk. Another good option to communicate with them is to meet somewhere calm and impartial. But not at a bar or anywhere else where alcohol is served. Discuss the impact your friend’s drinking or drug usage has on whatever the individual values most, such as their work or children. Your friend or family member may be unconcerned with their position. However, they may be concerned about their children and what the condition is doing to them.
Prepare for a range of emotions, from melancholy to rage. Consider how you will respond to each reaction, including quitting the situation if it becomes out of control.
Get on the Path to Recovery With Indiana Center for Recovery
Indiana Centre for Recovery is a premier addiction treatment center that offers a variety of successful treatment programs. Our skilled healthcare providers determine which therapy is best for you based on your present condition and treatment objectives.
We have various practical treatment approaches, such as residential treatment, detox, outpatient treatment, EMDR, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Also, our professional addiction specialists treat various drugs like; alcohol, cocaine, and meth addiction.
If you are battling addiction and contemplating detox or rehab, don’t hesitate to contact our staff for free assistance locating the care you require. You can call us at (812) 289-6807 and begin your journey to recovery.