Do you know someone who is addicted to drugs? It could be a family member or a close friend who is slowly ruining their life because of there drug addiction. If you want to help them overcome their addiction but don’t know how to actually do it, then this article is for you. There are a lot of misconceptions about how drug addicts should be helped and treated. No matter how hard you try to convince them to give up their drug addiction, the only way they will quit is when they want to quit for themselves, not for people who care about them. Quitting a drug habit can be very difficult due to the dependency on the drug just to function normally every single day.
So, instead of relying on lecturing your family member/close friend to quit drugs, you should try to support them in various innovative ways. Being there for the drug addict to offer any kind of help will make the addict trust you enough to seriously start considering quitting drugs. The addicted person will have to go through a lot of hardships to quit their drug of choice. If they do quit drugs but do it alone, then it is highly likely that they will relapse after a while. That is why it is so important to provide emotional support for the addict, thus, giving them the confidence and validation they need to quit using their drug of choice.
Be the best friend that you can be
Some friendships are brief and others last for a lifetime. Assisting a friend or family member during their struggle with drug addiction is a great way to make a friendship stronger. As the relationship develops over time, you will develop a tendency to take extra care more for the person. If they go through any bad times, you should strive to be there for them and provide him/her a shoulder to cry on. Expressing your concern for the addict will give them encouragement and self esteem, which will be a great motivator to quit their drug of choice.
Show empathy
Being listened to and understood are key elements to personal growth. The emotional exhaustion that comes while coping with a drug addiction will force some addicts to truly want to stop being addicted, and the only reason they continue using is to avoid the withdrawal symptoms which can be very painful. You can help ease his/her suffering by listening actively, sympathetically and not being judgemental about the addict.
Express your concern
It is very difficult to watch someone that you care about going through periods of intense suffering or make decisions that are having a negative effect in his/her life. Sooner or later, you will have to tell the person you’re concerned about his well-being. He/she may also need to listen to what you’ve got to say, however, they may be very reluctant to listen to your concerns for them. Don’t be discouraged by this because it is okay due to the fact you’re being genuine and you’re demonstrating your concern.
Identify the person’s drug or drugs of choice
It’s common for a person with an addiction to be regularly consuming large quantities of drugs, whether they are pharmaceutical drugs or illegal drugs bought from criminal street dealers. This could be an obvious factor or a difficult thing to decide. If someone is secretly taking pills or other drugs, it the only thing you can see are the symptoms and signs of abuse. If you are in doubt, you may constantly ask them to reveal their drug of choice to you, so you can help them in a much better manner.
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