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Drug Addiction Help: Who Needs It and How to Get It
Addiction to drug use and substance abuse has become a common problem in the modern-day world. The fast-paced modern society and its demands can push anyone to develop a coping mechanism, sometimes, the bad type. Many people who suffer from substance abuse or drug addiction started small as a means to relieve stress and cope with the demands of their daily lives. However, over time, their body builds tolerance to the regular dose, forcing them to increase dosage and intake to get the desired feeling.
The constant use rewires the brain, making it think it cannot function properly in the absence of the abused substance, thus leading to dependence and addiction. The dangers of addiction are many. Not only does it negatively affect the user’s health, but it also touches their finances, career, relationships, mental state, etc. A good way to address this problem is to actively seek out addiction help in Richmond, VA.
To get an addicted individual to commit to getting help, they must first realize the problem. Family and friends can be instrumental to the realization of the problem. Once the problem has been identified, finding recovery support services should be the next step to take. As a friend or family of an addicted individual, you need to know how to navigate this murky water to ensure a positive outcome. Read on to find the information you need as you guide your loved one on a path to recovery and sobriety.
How to get help with a drug addiction
The effect of drug addiction touches all areas of the victim’s life. The victim may suffer strained relationships with family and loved ones. They may also suffer financial setbacks, especially as they may direct money meant for bills, credit cards, and food into funding their unhealthy lifestyle. The impact of addiction can also be felt on the victim’s employment as they may be unable to perform the duties required by their employer and suffer job loss.
As a friend or family member, knowing what to do and how to approach this issue can make a difference. Below are some of the recommended steps to take.
Educate yourself about addiction
The first step to helping an addicted loved one is to learn as much as possible about what substances they’re using, what the warning signs are, and identify local community resources that can help them recover. Understanding addiction will help you relate better with your loved one who suffers from this problem.
Offer support
With education comes understanding, and with understanding comes empathy. Your loved one is not a bad person, but under the influence of drugs and alcohol their mood and behavior makes them act in harmful and destructive ways. Coming to them from a place of understanding and support allows you address the behaviors and drug use and bring up recovery options in a non-confrontational way. Many people who are addicted are trapped in a cycle, and a helping hand allows them them to take the first step forward toward breaking that cycle.
Encourage them to get help
Addiction and its effects can be devastating. We can improve someone’s odds of recovery by approaching them in an encouraging manner instead of being confrontational. While encouraging the individual to take action, do some background research on addiction treatment centers, recovery community organizations, transitional living organizations, as well sober living in Richmond, VA. Once the addicted individual has chosen to get help, don’t waste any time in enrolling them into a recovery and rehabilitation program.
Support during recovery
Recovery from addiction is a gradual process. Just because someone stops using drugs or alcohol it doesn’t mean everything is fixed immediately. People need to learn how to function without their substance, and that often means learning new coping skills to deal with life on life’s terms, dropping their old friend group, and establishing healthy habits such as working out and eating well.
While being a supportive friend and family member, there are some actions you should avoid. Some of these actions include:
- Preaching, nagging, lecturing, or threatening your loved one.
- Taking over their responsibilities – the goal is to build someone up and allow them to gain self-confidence that they can do things themselves
- Enabling their addictive behavior by covering up for them.
- Lying or making excuses for their addiction-induced behaviors.
- Emotional blackmail.
Detox can be an important first step towards recovery
So your loved one has agreed to enter recovery? For most people the next step may require a medical detox. Depending on what substance(s) they’re using, detoxing without medical supervision can be extremely dangerous. Even if they see an addiction doctor and are prescribed detox medication they will still experience discomfort as the drugs or alcohol work themselves out of their body over the course of a few days.
Consider co-occurring issues
Many people living with and suffering from addiction did not start substance abuse out of the blue. In some cases, they were pushed into the decision by other factors, whether pressure from work, society, family or other problems. Not to say that these are the main reasons they used, but their use was mostly likely triggered by facing an issue in their lives without healthy coping skills to address the issue in a productive manner. When seeking addiction help, the best approach to whole treatment is a holistic treatment. Holistic addiction treatments consider the symptoms suffered by the victim and seek to understand the underlying and co-occurring problems.
In addition to partnering with addiction doctors, psychiatrists, and therapists our program is peer run. The benefit of this approach is that learning from someone who has been where you are and can help you navigate the same battles they just faced is extremely powerful. This approach is what makes RCO’s so effective in treating drug and alcohol addiction.
It is important to note that recovery is not magic where results happen with a snap of a finger; however, it encourages the individual to choose life, hope, health, family, stability, and all other great things that addiction may have robbed them of. The decision to remain sober is a daily choice that people in recovery must make.
If you are dealing with addiction or have a loved one dealing with this problem, seek help by visiting https://mcshin.org.
Mcshin Foundation, 2300 Dumbarton Road Richmond VA 23228, 804-249-1845
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