Dealing with an addiction can be challenging for the addicted person and their relatives, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Relatives and close friends often feel frustrated as they watch their child, spouse, parent, or friend simply waste away due to addiction. Some people, especially parents and spouses, tend to believe that the addicted person is not just trying enough to overcome their conditions. But this is not often the case.
Addiction results in many physical and mental changes, it thrives on dependability, and only a few people are able to overcome the condition on their own. Your addicted friend, child, sibling, or spouse may be trying very hard to stay strong, but they cannot just stop the constant pull from the substance they are addicted to. Imagine being very thirsty on a boat in the middle of the sea.
You have no freshwater supply, but the immense saltwater sea is just a reach away. You know it is harmful, but the thirst is far greater than your inhibitions. Such is the dilemma that people with addictions battle with every minute of their lives.
Now more than ever, an addicted friend or relative needs your help to combat their condition. Here are some helpful ways to help people with addictions.
Communicate with them
Never ostracize an addicted relative or friend. They need all the help and support they can get. The more you ignore them, the greater their dependability on whatever substance they are addicted to and the greater the damage. Communicate with them, ask them how you can help, and assure them that they have your support and understanding. It’s going to be tough on you both, but it often yields positive results.
Take a breather if you need one
Dealing with a friend or relative with substance abuse can have a heavy toll on your mental health. If you hold your feelings in for too long, you might end up saying hurtful things that you don’t mean. So take a breather once in a while. Talk to someone about what you are going through so you can be strong enough to help. However, ensure the addicted person understands that you still care about them even when you are not physically with them.
Try to understand and empathize
You might not be able to grasp what a person with substance abuse is going through, even if you have been in a similar situation yourself. However, you can try to understand their constant battles with the disease. Remember that they want to be rid of the condition even more than you do. If you try to understand what they are going through, it would be easier to empathize and help them.
Take necessary actions
You can also take adequate steps to help a person with an addiction. For example, staying with them through the period of crises, showing your support by abstaining from the substance or any other thing you love, and helping them through underlying issues that could have led to the addiction. Most importantly, get them professional help.
Pacific Bay Recovery’s San Diego drug detox centers are properly equipped to offer professional help to people living with addictions. Please book an appointment in our San Diego drug treatment centers to get professional help for yourself or a loved one living with an addiction.
