It’s the elephant in the room. You might know that your loved one is struggling with drug addiction or alcohol abuse and see that this substance use disorder is hurting him or her. But, as much as this person is struggling, you don’t know how to talk with the person.
Luckily, you can learn how to confront an addict to help the addict find treatment and give yourself some peace of mind. You can do this by holding an intervention.
You may have heard about interventions, watched recorded versions of them in reality television programs, or seen fictional depictions of them in movies. These versions and depictions might make interventions sound extremely dramatic or even comedic, but there’s no single way to hold an intervention or participate in one.
This makes sense, because people are different and their addictions are different. People struggle with drugs and alcohol in different ways, live different kinds of lives, and have different kinds of needs and wants. Treating different addictions for different people might produce different kinds of results and require different kinds of treatment.
Such differences might seem overwhelming at first. Many of us might find addiction and its repercussions overwhelming. We might not know how to address addicts and their addictions. We might not know what to do. We might be afraid of doing the wrong thing, so we don’t do anything at all.
But, there are things we can do to hold an intervention. We might not perform all of these steps in the same way (or even follow all of these steps), but these tips can help us talk with our loved ones who have been struggling with substance use disorder and assist them in finding help:
1) Prepare yourself. Search for websites of government organizations, and health care organizations for information about drug abuse and addiction as well as treatment for these conditions.
What can you learn? You might learn about drugs and their effects. This can help you learn what drugs might be affecting your loved ones. This can help you better discuss what they might be experiencing and what could await them if they continue to abuse drugs of alcohol.
Learning about interventions itself can also help. How do people typically react when their loved ones hold an intervention? What happens before, during, and after the intervention? What roles should different people play during the intervention? Exploring all of these questions and asking others can help people plan and conduct more successful interventions.
2) Ask for help. Try to enlist the help of others. This could help you strengthen your case with the addicts and help them see that other people are concerned about them.
Drug addiction and alcohol abuse doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Addicts’ addictions affect their families, friends, coworkers, and others in their lives. If addicts find treatment to improve their own lives, there’s a good chance that these benefits will improve the lives of their loved ones. Other people might be eager to help addicts for a variety of reasons.
Enlisting professional help is also a good idea during this time. Intervention specialists have experience with addicts and interventions. They can provide professional assistance and psychological reassurance for addicts and their loved ones.
3) Schedule wisely. Don’t talk with addicts about their addictions while they’re drunk or high. Addicts will be better able to understand you while they’re sober. They could be more rational and willing to hear what people have to say and might be less likely to react emotionally. Also make sure you have enough time to explain your concerns.
Speaking of scheduling, people planning interventions might want to consider contacting a rehab placement agency to check if rehab centers are available. This way, they can steer their loved ones to rehab centers for prompt treatment.
4) Offer to speak again. Addicts might not want to hear what you have to say about their addictions or provide any information themselves, but starting conversations is a good first step.
Even if addicted people don’t take the advice offered at interventions, they’ve heard the concerns of their loved ones. They might continue to think about this advice and be receptive to seeking and receiving help at a later time.
5) Provide support. Reassure addicts that you’re speaking with them because you love them, support them, and want to help them find help.
Actually, as you can see, instead of talking about how to confront an addict, we’re talking about how to support them.
Support is crucial in treating addictions. Many people have found the support of twelve-step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or other types of recovery groups. Support can also come in the form of individual or group therapy.
On a more personal level, the support of family members and friends can help people find treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, successfully complete such treatment, and stay in recovery after treatment. Recovery might be difficult, but the assistance of others can help.
