A Guide for Helping a Loved-One with Addiction
There comes a day when you realize that a loved one may have a addiction problem and you will be faced with hard questions in alcohol rehab center to help make your family whole again. Social workers, counseling psychologists, and addiction specialists understand the hardships that addiction puts on the addict and the addicts family when it has consumed the individual. The feelings of guilt and questioning of yourself as to if you could have changed what has come to be in your loved ones addiction are normal feelings. Do you ever catch yourself in such dialogue as this?
“One day she’s ‘emotional Mary’, the next day she’s “manipulative Mary’ and on the third day, ‘hurt Mary’ will turn up…I am tired…where’s my real daughter? Why is she doing this?”
“I wanted to believe with all my heart that he was telling the truth, but I knew they were lies, lies and lies.”
“Where did I go wrong?”
“I should have set stricter limits…”
“Sometimes I think it was us…we fought so much, it pushed her to drugs…”
“I wish I had paid more attention to him…”
Different words, but all parts of the same story shared by millions around the world. It’s heartbreaking to discover a loved one’s alcohol addiction, perhaps even harder to accept the situation without self-blame. No matter what anyone says, dealing with the hurt is not easy, you will feel guilty and the pain will take time to heal. But, what’s perhaps more important and requires more attention at this point is not your own pain, but that of your loved one.
What To Do If Your Loved One Is An Addict?
If you have recently discovered your love one’s addiction you have two options:
- Keep searching for the elusive answers to “Why did it have to be him/her? What did I do wrong?”
- Continue to place blame on any one aspect of the addictive behavior.
- Accept the problem and help your loved one find a way to fix it.
Yes, acceptance is hard, because it means forgiving yourself for not being able to stop your loved one from falling into this dark trap. But, what’s important to realize is that regret and self-flagellation won’t change any thing.
How To Stay Strong Despite The Hurt Caused By Your Loved Ones Behavior?
You have to acknowledge the fact that there are a lot of deeper emotional issues at play in the life of your loved one. They can become closed off, aggressive, accusatory, manipulative, deceptive and hurtful. What you have to understand is that you loved one may have very little control over their behavior and despite how much it hurts you, you need to stay strong and supportive.
Getting a loved one to quit substance abuse is not something that you can do completely on your own. Yes, they need your support and love, but you do not have the expertise to handle the unique emotional and physical challenges of addiction.
This is the time where an alcohol detox program becomes vital in the treatment process. Alcohol detoxification is the beginning step to ridding the body of the dependent toxins that the body has become accustom to. You need the help of experts, and your biggest responsibility is choosing the right ones.
Addiction Is Treatable!
Addiction is not the end of the road for anyone. It is completely treatable! Options such as in-patient alcohol treatment allow the intense concentration and monitoring of the patient so as to accomplish complete sobriety. An alcohol intervention may be necessary to “wake up” the addict to their behaviors and the ultimate effect it has on their family and friends.
There are thousands around the world who have battled their addictions to create fulfilling lives for themselves. The key to defeating addiction lies in the addict’s own will. Therefore, more than anything else, it’s important that those close to the person battling an addiction, must be able to respect their decision and preferences. If the person in question finds himself uncomfortable in a particular regimen, their discomfiture must be addressed.
Get Help Today
The bottom line is that your loved one must not be alienated from the process of selecting an addiction treatment program; every decision must be made with their consensus. let an alcohol recovery specialist help you and your loved ones today. Contact a specialist for a professional revision of your loved ones level of addiction and a treatment plan that is individually catered to their needs.