Help for the Families of Addicts
Anyone working in addiction recovery knows that families suffer right along with those who are addicted. Parents and siblings suffer the terror that their loved one won’t make it home or worse, have no idea where he is tonight. Children suffer from abuse or neglect of their most basic needs like shelter, food, and love. Grandparents and other family members may be abused, threatened or stolen from. Families need help, just like the addicted do.
What kind of help can be offered to parents and other family members? There are actually many ways to increase your understanding of addiction and the options for finding true recovery for someone you care about.
1. Understand addiction. Narconon has many easy-to-understand articles available to help family understand what’s happening and why the addict can’t just quit when he wants to.
Learn why addiction can get such a tight grip on a person with this multipage article: http://www.narconon.org/drug-addiction/factors-of-drug-addiction.html
Also discover how the cycle of addiction can be ended: http://www.narconon.org/drug-rehab/end-cycle-of-addiction.html
2. Realize you are not alone. You’re not alone because 20 million other families are going through the same agony as you. You should not feel ashamed of your situation but should reach out to get support and help for this very difficult problem. Consider talking to other family members, your minister, social worker or a community organization that fights drug abuse. Perhaps your employer has an Employee Assistance Program. Don’t try to tackle this problem by yourself, especially if you are in a vulnerable position, such as a mother caring for children, or if you are elderly or disabled.
3. Find out how to better survive this stressful time. For guidelines, read the 14 Rules You Must Never Break When Dealing with Addiction.
4. If you are not sure what drug is being used or whether or not addiction actually exists you can read the Signs and Symptoms of Drug Abuse. You’ll learn the common signs of addiction and what drugs your loved one might be consuming, based on those signs. You’ll gain a better understanding of how to proceed to save that person and put an end to the nightmare.
5. More resources. A special section of the Narconon website is dedicated to parents and other family members and offers plenty of resources that are useful during this time. You can find the Parent Center here: http://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/parent-center.html.
6. Has your loved one already been to rehab but relapsed after she came home? Learn why this happens and how it can be prevented by reading the Factors of Relapse here: https://www.narconon.org/drug-rehab/relapse-factors/.
7. If you are looking for immediate help for a loved one, call and speak to a Narconon counselor. We know that families need to understand what they are dealing with and how addiction can be overcome. If your situation requires an intervention, we can help you find an experienced interventionist who can come to your home. Your constant stress can finally be relieved when your loved one walks through our doors for our long-term program.
You can be on your way to leaving this nightmare behind in just a couple of days by calling Narconon today. No one should suffer from addiction and no family should suffer this anguish. Let us help.