In a perfect world, no one would ever get addicted. Sadly, addiction takes its toll on a person’s health, happiness and personal relationships. As someone who has a drug addict in their life, you are likely to be dealing with a variety of emotions. In many instances, it is not as simple as just walking away from the addict to escape all of the problems that their addiction brings to your relationship. The drug addict in your life may be a spouse, a child or even an aging parent.
Or, you may have a special friend that you knew long before addiction took hold over their thoughts and actions. Watching someone that you love keep using drugs is heartbreaking, and you may be reaching the point where you no longer know if you can continue the relationship. Once you find yourself asking how to deal with a drug addict, it is likely that things have spiraled far out of control. Learning how to set boundaries and make it clear that the drug addict you care about needs to get help makes it possible to build a better relationship.
Loved ones of drug addicts often wonder when it is time to walk away. You might feel like you can’t just leave your adult child out in the world to struggle, or you might think that it is better to give your spouse money for drugs if it means that they won’t do illegal things to get it. Being put in these types of situations is unfair to you, and it could potentially cause more harm than good if you feel forced to do things that further the drug addict’s habits. Right now, you need to ask yourself if your loved one is in need of more help than you can give them. Ask yourself if these situations apply to find the answers that you need to know how to proceed.
•They’ve engaged in criminal activity to buy illegal drugs
•They’ve been arrested for driving under the influence or possession
•They’ve had a drug-related medical emergency
•They’ve lied or stolen from you or other people that you know
•They’ve become someone that you hardly recognize
Realizing that your loved one has somehow gone over the edge into a full blown addiction is scary. However, there are things that you can do to make dealing with them easier. One of the first things that you’ll need to do is make sure that they understand that you cannot continue to tolerate them using drugs. Many people do this by first seeking out the advice of a professional addiction specialist who can guide them through the first steps of creating boundaries and planning an intervention.
Stay Strong In Your Decision to Require Them to Seek Treatment
Addiction has a terrible way of destroying the normal boundaries that people have in their relationships. Being lied to or stolen from is awful, and that is not something that a person would normally do to someone that they care about. Once a drug addict begins to do these types of things, you have to set the expectation that you will no longer allow yourself to be hurt by their behavior. Boundaries in this type of relationship may be something like telling them that you’ll no longer give them money, even if they claim that it is the only way to keep a roof over their head. You might also tell someone who lives with you that they need to go somewhere else if they aren’t going to stay sober. While it may be unbelievably difficult at first, this type of tough love is often one of the first things that begins to break through the addict’s stubborn mind. When they realize that they might lose you or the support that you provide, they might feel an urgency to seek treatment.
When you care deeply about the addict, it also helps to make sure that they know that you can continue your relationship if they seek help and get sober. This is where interventions come in. Hosting a drug addiction intervention gives you the opportunity to express how their actions have harmed your relationship. This is also a chance to give them information about where they can seek treatment that helps them to get sober and be capable of having healthy relationships again.
Are you worried about a drug addict who keeps bringing problems into your life? If so, we can help! Give us a call at 833-820-2922 to learn how to help them get into the right treatment program to end their addiction.