The Steps to Stop Addiction or Alcoholism: How to Help Your Loved One
Submitted by admin on Wed, 08/11/2010 - 12:55
It is difficult for family and friends to watch someone they care about struggle in any situation, but it is especially frustrating to stand on the sidelines while they refuse to take advantage of an easy solution and to be unable to force them to get help. If someone in your life is faced with addiction or alcoholism, you can follow these steps to get them the help that they need.
Step 1: Commit to Take Action
In order to make a change and stop the cycle of addiction, you will need to be committed to doing so. Remind yourself not to take the addict’s responses to your efforts personally; dependence on a substance can negatively alter a person’s moods and behaviors. You should mentally prepare yourself for resistance; do not allow it to deter you from your goal.
Step 2: Find an Interventionist
From preparing family before the drug or alcohol intervention to determining whether having a medical doctor present is necessary to knowing how to respond if the person refuses to go to treatment, an interventionist is an important addition to your team. Although the cost of an intervention can vary based on many factors, you may be surprised at how affordable it can be, especially when you consider that it is a much better investment than allowing the addict to spend more money on addiction!
Step 3: Enlist Others
It is much easier for addicts to manipulate individuals and to use arguments that will appeal to specific people; a unified message from many will have much more power than trying to convince the addict alone. Get other family members and friends to join you and, with the help of your interventionist, begin preparations for the intervention – and for what will happen when the addict or alcoholic agrees to go to treatment.
Step 4: Choose a Rehab
Another great reason to find an interventionist is because they often have connections to numerous rehab facilities and can make recommendations for treatment centers that would be appropriate for your situation. It is important to have a facility chosen before confronting the addict so that they cannot make excuses about not having a place to go.
Step 5: Follow Through
When the time comes for the intervention, remember your original commitment and follow through. In the majority of cases, the addict will accept help and enter treatment. In the unlikely event that they say “no,” you must not fall back into the cycle of enabling the addict because this tough love in the form of withdrawing all support until they agree to go to rehab will almost invariably change their minds within a short period of time after the intervention.
