There is nothing like watching someone you truly care for make unhealthy, self-destructive choices. Dealing with a friend or family member who is suffering from a drug addiction can be especially challenging if they do not want to seek the help you know they desperately need. It’s even more painful to realize that as long as they do not want to change, they won’t. Doing drugs is a choice. Getting help is a choice. So, the key to helping someone with their addiction is to support them in making healthy choices.

To encourage someone to make the right decision and to get help or go into a rehab facility, try an intervention. Sit down with them and let them know how worried you are. Make every effort to tell them you care and show how you’ll be supportive throughout the whole process. Let them know that you’ll be there as little or as much as they want you to be.

In very severe cases, when the addict displays suicidal symptoms or is causing harm to others, forced hospitalization is possible. However, it is more likely that the individual will be treated for the psychological and mental health issues, not the drug addiction.

Knowing that a person’s behaviors will not change until the individual wants to make those changes for their own self, do you think loved ones should be able to commit those suffering from addictions into a drug treatment program against their will?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am by marie and is filed under Drug Interventions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.