Helping a Person With a Drug Problem

Seeing someone you care about struggle with addiction is upsetting and hard on your mental health. Whether it's a friend, relative, or spouse, their addiction can take over your life and make you feel stressed, guilty, angry, and sad. 

You start to worry about their well-being, health, and how they will affect your life. You can't handle the financial stress, taking care of them, and ignoring your needs.

You're not the only one going through this. Families all over the world are affected by drug addiction, which puts a lot of people in similar situations. You can get help but can't force someone to improve. Your help is important. In the chaos of addiction, you can help them get better, set limits, and find stability for each of you.

How To Help Someone With A Drug Problem And Help Them Get Better

When someone in the family is addicted to alcohol or drugs, the whole family is affected. You could be a parent, a child, or a sibling. You might also be a friend. Either way, your loved one's drug use might stress you. You might be wondering how you can help a loved one who is addicted. 

Even though there isn't a single right way to do this, some general rules may help and make them more likely to be open to change.

Your loved one's drug use may affect you and your family in many ways. Read on to find out more about how these things happen.

How Do I Know If My Friend Has a Drug Problem?

A friend of yours might be dependent on drugs based on how they act, how they look, and what they have around them.

Signs of behaviour

Look for:

• Lack of attention to personal appearance
• Disregard for duties and obligations
• Physical indicators
• Abrupt shifts in demeanour or emotional fluctuations
• Diminished enthusiasm for pastimes, athletics, or cherished pursuits
• Isolation from relatives and former social circles

Look for:

• Trembling or shakiness, speech that is unclear or slurred, coordination difficulties or instability
• Unexpected changes in body weight, either loss or gain
• Frequent occurrences of nosebleeds
• Eyes appearing red, glassy, or bloodshot, along with unusually dilated or constricted pupils
• Sniffling or a runny nose
• Additional indications

Also, these things could be signs of addiction:

• Foil that has been scorched
• Tiny, sealable pouches are possibly employed for drug storage.
• Utensils like spoons and needles
• Implements such as pipes, plastic bottles, or cans that show signs of puncturing or alteration
• Utensils like spoons and needles

How To Understand Your Loved One's Drug Use

Different things lead people to start using drugs. Many people use drugs to deal with the emotional pain of a psychological condition like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some people know they have a mental health problem but can't find healthier ways to deal with it. Others haven't been diagnosed yet and use drugs to deal with specific symptoms.

Some people use drugs to improve their feelings, fit in with the crowd, or stop being bored or unhappy with their lives. Then there are people whose drug use starts when a doctor tries to treat their health issues well. Estimates show that over one-quarter of the people given opioids to treat pain will end up abusing the drug.

What Are the Effects of Drug Abuse on Friends and Family?

Different things can happen to family and friends when someone is addicted. There can be physical, mental, and even financial effects.

Some of the bad things that can happen to family and friends because of addiction are:

• Emotional: Due to their loved one's addiction, friends and family members may feel anxious, scared, sad, guilty, angry, or embarrassed.
• Financial: People who have become dependent may spend money on their addiction that could have gone to their family. They may even steal from people they love to pay for it.
• Instability: When someone is addicted, they may do things that hurt those closest to them. This could lead to domestic violence, abuse, split, divorce, or even removing kids from the home.
• Conflict: When a loved one is using drugs, friends and family are more inclined to have fights with them.

When a parent uses drugs, it can be especially bad for the children. A parent with an addiction may find it hard to meet their child's needs. They might put their drug use ahead of their child's health. Children whose parents have problems with drugs are more likely to:

• Utilisation of substances
• Abuse affecting the physical, mental, and emotional realms
• Challenges in conduct
• Subpar scholastic achievement
• Psychological well-being challenges
• Physical well-being challenges
• Neglectful behaviour

Talking To Someone About Their Drug Use

It's never easy to start talking to someone about their drug use, but it's important to do so with compassion and understanding. Don't forget that no one plans to become an addict.

Drug abuse is often a bad way to deal with painful problems or mental health issues. Stress tends to make people do things they shouldn't, so criticising, insulting, or shaming themselves will only push them away and may even make them want to use drugs even more.

Finding out that someone you care about is using drugs can make you feel shocked, afraid, and angry, especially if it's your child or teen who is using. These strong feelings can make talking to someone who takes drugs even harder. So, talking when calm and sober and won't be interrupted is important. Help and support them without making them feel bad.

Educate Yourself About Addiction

You know what you see. If you don't know about drug abuse and addiction, it's easy to miss the signs that are right there in front of you.

Addiction is complicated, so it's okay if you don't know everything immediately. But you and your loved one will both benefit greatly from taking the time to learn about their disease and the way it affects them. It also helps you notice the signs that someone you care about needs help.

Don't Delay

You don't have to wait until someone you care about hits rock bottom, like when they get arrested, lose a job, have a medical emergency, or embarrass themselves publicly, to say something. The sooner a person gets help for an addiction, the better.

Offer Your Support

People addicted to drugs or alcohol don't always realise how much friends and family care about them. Talk to the person you care about about your worries, and don't wait until they're at their worst to say something. Let them know that you will help them on their way to getting better.

Express Your Concerns Honestly

Ensure the person knows you care about them and are worried about them. Give specific examples of how your loved one's drug use has worried you, and tell the truth about how you feel.

Encourage Them to Get Help

Like other diseases, treating addiction as soon as possible is best. But don't be surprised if they say they can't or won't get help or give you a reason why they can't. Keep telling them how important it is to get help for their addiction, but don't make them feel guilty or ashamed.

You could also hold a meeting for the person you care about. Even though these are often hard to pull off, your loved one may need an intervention if they are deep into an addiction. You might want to bring in an interventionist to help you through this process.

Listen

Even if you don't agree with someone, take the time to listen to whatever they say without trying to argue or oppose them. The more you listen to someone you care about, the more they'll see you as helpful and someone they can trust.

Don't Think That One Talk Will Solve the Problem.

This is likely the first of many times you'll have to talk to your loved one about their drug use. There is no easy way to stop being addicted. It may take more than one conversation to admit they have a problem, which is the first step towards getting better.

If you think someone you care about is using drugs, you can encourage them to get help for their problem. Be kind and helpful, but also understand that they will likely try to explain away their actions. Be clear about your wish, and tell them they should get help. This isn't easy, but it's a very important first step towards helping them live a healthy, happy life once they're clean.

When Is It Time For An Intervention?

If someone in your family or circle of friends is using drugs, it can help to talk to them about your worries. But you might not want to hold a typical intervention like the ones you've seen on TV. When several people show up out of the blue to confront a person about their addiction, the person may get angry. It could also make them doubt you in the future.

It can take time to decide if an intervention is needed. What works for one individual might not work for someone else. Before an intervention:

• Think about how your loved one will respond.
• Think of ways you can make them less angry and defensive.
• Try to talk to them when they are most interested in talking.
• Seeing things through. If you say something will happen, you should be ready to do it. Not doing what you say is enabling because it shows the other person that you aren't serious.
• When it comes to intervention, here are some things to keep in mind:
• Short and sweet. They may feel angry and ashamed if you keep talking about how they hurt you. This won't help in any way. Keep it to just one or two scenarios.
• Hearing what they have to say. Give the person you care about a chance to talk, too.
• How to tell the difference between the person and their addiction. For example, when you talk about how their addiction has hurt you, make sure to say that you know the addiction, not the person, is to blame. This can make you feel less ashamed.
• Having to wait for the right time. It's important not to plan an intervention for someone under stress or who has just been through something traumatic.

Conclusion 

Helping someone with a drug problem can be hard and upsetting for both the person with the problem and their family. It can make them feel stressed, guilty, angry, sad, and worried about their health and how it will affect their life. Families all over the world are touched by drug addiction, and it is important to help them get better by giving them support and understanding.

Some signs of drug dependence are not caring about how you look, not taking care of your tasks and responsibilities, sudden changes in behaviour, less interest in hobbies, sports, or other things you used to enjoy, and withdrawal from family and friends.

Other signs of addiction are trembling or shaking, slurred speech, problems with balance, sudden changes in body weight, frequent nosebleeds, red, bloodshot, or glassy eyes, and a runny nose.

If you know why a friend is using drugs, you can better understand their problem. Some people use drugs to deal with mental pain, money problems, feeling unstable, or getting into fights with other people.

Parents who are addicted to drugs may have trouble meeting their child's needs and may put their own drug use ahead of their child's health.

Children whose parents have drug problems are more likely to use drugs, be abused in ways that hurt their physical, mental, and emotional health, and have trouble with their behaviour, schoolwork, mental health, and physical health.

It's important to talk to someone about their drug use, but it's also important to be kind and patient. Criticising, insulting, or shaming someone will only push them away and may even make them want to use drugs even more.

When you find out someone you care about is using drugs, it can be hard to talk, so it's important to talk quietly and without stopping. By helping and supporting someone who uses drugs, you can help them get over their addiction and find safety for yourself and your family.

Learn as much as you can about addiction and how it affects both you and the person you care about. Addiction is complicated, so it's important to learn about it and know how to help a friend or family member who needs it. Don't wait to talk about a problem.

Offer support, be honest about your worries, and tell them to get help. Don't fight or disagree with what they have to say, and don't think that one talk will solve the problem. It may take more than one talk to get them to accept they have a problem and give them the tools they need to live a healthy, happy life once they're clean.

When it's time for an intervention, think about how your loved one will react, try to make them less angry and defensive, and try to talk to them when they are most interested in talking. Be ready to see things through and ready to say what will happen.

Plan an intervention that is short and to the point, gives the person a chance to talk, and makes it clear that the person is different from their problem. Wait for the right time because you shouldn't plan a rescue for someone who is stressed out or who has just been through something bad.

Content Summary

• Seeing someone with an addiction can negatively impact your mental health.
• The addiction of a friend, relative, or spouse may dominate your life, causing stress and guilt.
• Drug addiction affects families globally, leading to similar challenges.
• Despite the chaos, it's possible to help a person with addiction find stability.
• When a family member is addicted, everyone in the family may experience stress.
• Although there's no single solution, certain general rules may make someone more open to change.
• Drug use signs can include a lack of attention to appearance, disregard for duties, and emotional fluctuations.
• Physical indicators like weight changes, nosebleeds, or red eyes may signal drug use.
• Tools such as scorched foil, spoons, needles, and punctured cans may also be signs of addiction.
• Drug use can stem from dealing with emotional pain or mental health conditions like depression or PTSD.
• Some use drugs to enhance feelings, fit in, or escape boredom, while others start due to medical treatment.
• More than a quarter of people treated with opioids for pain might end up abusing the drug.
• Drug abuse may lead to emotional, financial, physical, mental, and even legal consequences for family and friends.
• Emotional effects on loved ones might include feelings of anxiety, guilt, anger, or embarrassment.
• Financial impacts may include the misuse or theft of money meant for the family.
• Addiction can lead to instability, including domestic violence, abuse, divorce, or child removal.
• Conflict within the family may increase due to a loved one's drug use.
• Children of addicted parents may face substance use, abuse, behavioural challenges, poor academic achievement, and health issues.
• Starting a conversation about drug use is challenging but should be approached with compassion.
• Shock, fear, and anger are common reactions to discovering a loved one's drug use.
• Conversations about drug use should be calm, sober, and free from interruption.
• Understanding and educating oneself about addiction enhances the ability to recognise signs and help effectively.
• Delaying intervention is unnecessary; early help often leads to better outcomes.
• Expressing concern, offering support, and encouraging professional help are crucial steps.
• Listening without judgment fosters trust and openness.
• One conversation may not solve the problem; ongoing dialogue is usually needed.
• Kindness and clarity, despite potential defensiveness, are key to encouraging someone to seek help.
• Interventions need careful consideration and may require professional assistance.
• Typical confrontational interventions may backfire, leading to anger and mistrust.
• Planning an intervention requires considering the loved one's response and ways to reduce defensiveness.
• Ensuring follow-through on promises is vital, as inconsistency may undermine the effort.
• An intervention should be concise, focusing on one or two scenarios.
• Allowing the addicted person to speak is an essential part of the intervention process.
• Distinguishing between the person and their addiction helps reduce shame during an intervention.
• Timing is crucial for an intervention, avoiding stressful or traumatic periods.
• Drug addiction can cause physical symptoms like trembling, slurred speech, or coordination difficulties.
• Drug addiction can lead to isolation from family and former social circles.
• Abuse by parents who are addicted can affect children in physical, mental, and emotional ways.
• A loved one's drug use may trigger unexpected arguments and fights within a family.
• Educating oneself about addiction is vital in understanding the disease and how it affects a loved one.
• Expressing concerns honestly helps in communicating how a loved one's drug use affects you.
• Addiction's complexity requires patience and education to understand fully.
• Drug abuse can be a misguided way to cope with painful problems or mental health issues.
• Children whose parents have drug problems may face neglectful behaviour.
• Being clear about the desire for a loved one to seek help is an essential first step.
• Drug users may not realise how much their friends and family care about them.
• Interventions should avoid making the addicted person feel guilty or ashamed.
• Encouraging professional help for addiction as soon as possible is best.
• Helping a person with a drug problem may involve setting limits and boundaries.
• It's never easy to talk to someone about drug use, but empathy and support can make a difference.