7 Tips for Helping Someone with Addiction
Addiction Help
If you love someone who has an addiction or is suffering from an addiction, it often can feel like there’s nothing you can do. You may find yourself so overwhelmed by the situation that you don’t know where to start and how to help. The good news is that there are many ways to help your loved one, and with a bit of guidance on what will work best for them, you’ll be able to offer one of the most important gifts of all: your unconditional love and support. So, here are 7 tips for helping someone with addiction:
7 Tips for Helping Someone with Addiction
- Motivate them to change.
Even if an addicted individual wants to change, they must still do the work of getting better. They have to make an active decision, and once they do, it’s important that their closest family members support them and encourage them on their path toward sobriety.
- Be honest with yourself and your loved one.
When you can admit that your loved one is facing a drug or alcohol addiction, it’s easier to see how the disease affects them.
Once you accept that your loved one has a problem, you’ll be more willing to give them the support they need, and with time and patience, they’ll be able to find their way out of addiction.
- Set boundaries for yourself, but also for your addicted loved one.
If you have a family member with an addiction, chances are, you may have had to rearrange your schedule in order to accommodate them.
You might have had to put other responsibilities on hold or take on more of the household chores because they were too impaired to help out.
Although it may be natural for you to want to do this, it’s important that you put your foot down and stop this kind of behavior. This will show your loved one that they need to start taking responsibility for themselves and their actions.
- Remember that addiction is a disease.
If you are dealing with a loved one who has an addiction, it’s important that you keep in mind that they need help.
Addiction is a disease, and it affects one’s mind so that they are unable to think straight, plan for the future, or learn from their past mistakes.
You can’t blame them for their actions while they are suffering from this disease; instead, you must understand that addiction is a serious illness and treat it as such.
- Be patient.
There’s no quick fix in dealing with addiction, and there’s no magic that will magically banish your loved one to a happy place.
There’s a lot of work to do, both for yourself and for your addicted loved one, and when you’re trying to help someone in recovery through addiction, you have to be willing to wait it out.
Never give up on them, no matter how long it takes; keep encouraging them along their path toward better health and happiness.
- Do what makes you feel healthy and valuable.
It’s important to remember that you are helping your loved one by being a good role model, an example of a sober adult who lives their life well.
You can help them by making sure that you’re eating right, exercising, and sleeping well so that you’re in a good place emotionally and mentally. This is the best gift you can give anyone in your life, especially someone who is recovering from addiction.
- Seek your own help.
You can’t expect to live your best life or help your loved one recover if you feel overwhelmed and exhausted.
Although you may feel like you want to help them all by yourself, it is a recipe for disaster. Instead, you must find your own support system so that you can keep up with the challenges of helping someone with an addiction.
You need to ask for and accept help from people who love you and from professionals who know how to deal with addiction treatment.
Seeking Addiction Help
You have to understand that recovery from addiction is a lifelong journey, but it can be a rewarding journey when you’re there for someone you love.
Just remember that the best way to help your loved one is to take care of yourself and keep your head up as you walk alongside them on their path toward sobriety.
Gradually, things will get easier until the happy day arrives when they are finally free from the disease of addiction.
Seeking Help
While there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ recipe for everything you will face in life, these tips will help you help someone you love with their addiction.
At Washington Psychological Wellness, we have therapists who are specialized in addiction counseling. Our qualified mental health professionals can help people deal with addiction more effectively.
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