Someone close to me has an addiction that is getting to be more and more of a problem.
In addition to hurting their body, it’s impacting their social and professional life.
I’ve had a very serious addiction and my family interventioned me and I went to rehab.
But that’s not an option here.
It’ll be more like a conversation between the two of us.
Any advice?
Not sure how this helps in a conversation, but the only thing that turned things around for me was courts, and a dedicated drug support worker for one year
Maybe you can be that support, but it will mean some commitment to the person on your part for a prolonged period of time
Depends on what is within your gift to help them find a better path
Not sure… Maybe you could consult some therapy books tho… Like find a book called:
“How to help someone with an addiction”
Or something…
I found this page which lists 6 of the best books…
This is highly sensitive and of the utmost importance and a very delicate situation so I’d consult the best help possible…specialists
so far in my experience and the experience of recovering addicts around me those closest to the addict are the least suited to helping them
I’ve generally not seen this work until the person has crashed hard and hit their true bottom.
I feel the same way. There’s no point in talking about it, unless they want to change.
For me it was a choice between a forensic ward or community rehab
After spending a month locked up that was enough for me
Some I guess would take years to realise
I would start by telling them that. It might put them at ease and make them trust you more if they know you’ve been through what they’re going through. In the Big Book of AA they say pretty much the same thing about this situation, an alcoholic is more likely to trust another alcoholic. It helps the suffering alcoholic if the person talking to them understands the type of experiences they’ve been through because that person has been through them too. In fact, maybe you should read the Big Book and get some hints on how to approach an alcoholic. Addiction has many similarities to alcoholism. Some of the same methods of approaching an alcoholic about their alcoholism would work for approaching an addict about their addiction.
Maybe talk about how they feel, it can be that they open up about their substance abuse
I’m not an expert…but just based on my own thoughts. Maybe expressing your thoughts about how you are concerned about their well being and mental and physical health.
If they see it as a criticism they may tend to become defensive or aggressive about it.
I think showing your concern for their well being is the way to go.
No idea if you can get through to them, but I think this is likely the way to go.
I am not an expert on this though, just the current thoughts I have.
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