How to Help an Addict

People who have an addict in their lives know that he needs help. The addict usually can't admit it. One of our goals is to give families and friends information about intervening to help.

An addict’s loss of touch with reality affects nearly every aspect of his life. For example, he may have serious health issues, have lost friends or a job, and still believe that thinks are okay. he may even overdose and face death, only to resume his abuse of substances immediately thereafter. This seems like insanity, but the nature of the addiction makes the behavior almost beyond the addict’s control.

Often, an addict secretly knows he’s in a downward spiral, but is unable to break the cycle long enough to begin getting help. There are windows of opportunity, however—such as an arrest or job loss— in which he’s willing to discuss his situation. But if this opportunity isn’t taken advantage of, the aaddict’s cravings and environment force him back into destructive behaviors.

Before that happens, and even after an addict has begun seeking help, it is useful to use circumstance in his life that he can acknowledge are genuine reasons why he must enter or sustain rehabilitation. An examples of this typically is that the addict knows someone—a family member or friend—who lost his life to addiction. The point is that, within that window of opportunity, an addict can respond realistically and be motivated to take action.

Bearing that in mind, one key to being able to help an addict to is to identify circumstances that would cause him to make a decision about seeking aid. Those can include the possibility of legal action leading to jail time, the threat of losing a spouse, or a job loss. The point is that it must be something that pushes the addict out of his “addiction comfort zone.

A significant consideration in intervention is determining who will be there when the addict is confronted. The number of people is less important than who is there. Ideally, the person in the family whom the addict most respects the should be included. This person’s “opinion leadership” and support are important. Family members should be there only if they are in completely agreement about the action to be taken. People who are antagonistic toward the addict and who cannot restrain themselves from arguing and blaming should be left out. The goal is to get the addict to acknowledge publicly that he needs treatment without delay.

A Caution About Interventions:

In today’s culture, alcohol and other drug addiction intervention approaches are broadcast widely on television and on the Web. So participants may feel they don’t need a trained person to help, believing instead that they handle it themselves. There is a danger in this: There may be only one good opportunity to approach the addict and get them to seek help. Untrained and unskilled participants risking wasting this opportunity. Trained, credentials professionals are much better prepared to assessing an intervention.