Addiction can be a scary and isolating affliction to have to endure with devastating effects on the addicted person life. Drugs and alcohol have the potential to disrupt the lives of the people you love and make their pre-existing problems worse in the long run.
To help you better understand how you can help someone you love get through this difficult time in their life and get back on the straight and narrow, this handy guide is going to walk you through what to do and what you need to know to be a great friend.
Why is giving help so important?
You may think that this person’s issue with addiction is none of your business and you should stay out of it. This is a common and understandable feeling given the sensitivity of the issue at hand, but this fear of how they may react when you confront them needs to be dispelled for the fear of what could happen if you don’t intervene.
Tackling an issue such as this can be so difficult when doing it alone, so stepping up and being a friend in this situation will be something they will thank you for in the future.
A step by step guide
Now that you better understand the importance of your role, here is a step by step guide to help you navigate and tackle this issue.
1. Look for the signs
To begin with, you need to know if there is actually an addiction issue which can be achieved by learning the symptoms and side effects of addiction that you should look out for.
Addiction is often linked to unchecked mental health issues which, sometimes, can be spurred on by traumatic events such as the death of a loved one or a violent encounter.
If you notice this person becomes obsessive with the substance that they are using and find that they can’t get through the day without using it, then the chances are they have some sort addiction.
2. Get this person, and yourself, educated
The second thing you can do is improve your knowledge of addiction and, if possible, theirs too in the hopes they can recognize these traits within themselves. Remember, addiction can stem from mental health disorders such as depression and borderline personality disorder.
The Recovery Village website is a good place to start as there is lots of helpful information and can be the first step to getting them the help they need.
3. Get them help that they need
After confronting this person and getting them to admit they need help, you need to aid them in seeing a professional. Sit down with them and look up rehab programs and centers that could be useful to them.
Another good idea is to get them to book a doctor’s appointment and escort them too it, perhaps even talking to the doctor with them to help them get through the process.
Treatment varies from the type of addiction a person has, if you know someone with an addiction with prescription drugs, they can try benzo detox programs.
4. What more can you do?
When thinking about how to help, one of the biggest things you can do is actually the most simple: Don’t judge them.
People can become addicted to substances for a plethora of different reasons and no one is immune to falling into this spiral.
