Helping A Drug Addict To Quit
How you can help a drug addict stop? One of the first things a drug addict needs to realize is that he has to change in order to have a normal life. Until he understands and accepts that and wants that he can't move forward. For most this can begin with an intervention by friends or family. For others it could be the final realization that he is quickly losing material things as well as personal connections with others. The worst might be a legal problem varying in severity. Everyone is different, absolutely everyone responds to different stimuli in different ways. Identifying what exactly that stimuli is might aid in the ease of giving up drugs. There are stigmas attached also. Some might look at addiction to prescription drugs differently than illegal ones which is not correct and also should not influence treatment in any way, shape or form. Eventually one usually has to hit a rock bottom of sorts before realizing there is a really serious problem.
When working with an addict you have to remember to treat the symptoms as well as the actual drug use. What exactly made him or her start using drugs? Was there a motive, or a time when it truly began to get out of control? Were there previous efforts at quitting? What worked? What didn't? Not everyone needs as much direction as another may. Not every person needs to enter a detox program. The participation of the family members will help substantially, or hurt immensely depending on the scenario. The family in any case might well love the addict, but may be going in the absolutely wrong path with what's needed to help their daughter or son and not even realize it. Many Churches have great programs and folks working with them that can help and most of the time they're totally free, except when it comes to room and board obviously, if that is needed.
Encouraging A Drug Addict To Quit
Calling the best place for help will be key. Living in a drug free home, not hanging out with old friends that might have contributed to the problem in the first place, working, volunteering locally mandatory choices, or at least goals that should be achieved as soon as possible. A therapist ought to be careful not to place too much stress on someone, but there must be goals, because if there aren't then that indicates there is no plan. If there is absolutely no plan nothing will progress. Keeping relatively busy and just doing the right things by repetition can build some sort of foundation where perhaps there wasn't one before. Developing very good completely new behavior as opposed to letting the addict to fall back on the old ones is also necessary. At first, the middle and the end of treatment all sorts of support may be needed. For many it might only be do some volunteering, hang out with the right individuals, work regularly and also be around friends and family and that's all that's needed. For some the path to recovery may take everything in a person's repertoire to fight that person's addiction, but as long as the person continues trying there's a chance.
