Taking Charge of Life: Change Mental Patterns of Substance Abuse

Taking Charge of Life: Change Mental Patterns of Substance Abuse

Watching someone struggle with alcohol, drugs, or any other kind of addiction is rather difficult, especially if that person is your loved one. Naturally, you want to do everything in your power to help them, but that is always a tough task. Addicts are rather fragile and in most cases, they don’t want to admit that they have a problem. This denial is the main reason why helping them is so difficult. All of this may sound a bit discouraging, but there are ways to help these people. Of course, it is important to know that every person, every case, and every addiction is different, but there are some general methods you can use in order to help your loved one to overcome their addiction. That said, today, we are going to talk about the things you can do to help the person you love to take charge of their life.

Try Your Best to Establish Mutual Trust

One of the most important things you should know about addicts is that they usually don’t trust anyone. This is mostly because people have tried to help them in all the wrong ways before. They also tend to feel like everyone is against them. This happens when people try to make them go to rehab against their will or try to embarrass them publicly in order to help them to break the negative patterns. However, this aggressive approach is usually not helpful at all and it only makes addicts more vulnerable during drug withdrawal. If you really want to help your loved one overcome their addiction, you have to try your very best to establish mutual trust. The person you are trying to help has to know that you are on their side. This is the only way they will be able to open up to you and admit they have a problem. As you know, this is the first and one of the crucial steps towards recovery.

Make Sure Your Communication Is Open and Honest

We already said that people who struggle with drug addiction are not very trusting. This is important for you to know because if your loved one admits that they have a problem, you have to be honest about the difficulties they will encounter on their road to redemption. Lying and sugar-coating will make them think the road is easy. If this happens, they will probably give up at the first obstacle and call you a hypocrite. If you want them to get clean, they have to know that this will be the toughest battle of their life. However, they also have to know that you will be there fighting beside them.

Respect Their Privacy

A lot of people think that drug addicts shouldn’t have their own privacy. They think so because they are convinced they will use their alone time to do drugs. That’s why they tend to burst in their rooms in the middle of the night searching for drugs or read their text messages and emails. This happens when mutual trust is not established. Of course, this invasion of privacy is not a good approach because your loved one will think that you are their enemy. Respect their privacy and they will know that you are actually their ally and not a narc who is out to get them.

Don’t Judge, Shame, Or Threaten Them

There is a popular belief that drug addicts won’t consider changing their bad habits until they experience certain consequences. While in some cases this might be true, it’s never a good strategy to judge, shame, or threaten your loved one. A hostile approach will only make them feel like they are alone in this world and they will end up doing drugs again. It’s always better to be compassionate and loving.

Lastly, Remember to Be Patient With Your Loved One

When it comes to rehab, patience is the name of the game. A change like this doesn’t happen overnight. Therefore, make sure to expect a lot of difficulties and challenges along the way. It’s safe to say that your loved one will make you angry and they will probably disappoint you from time to time, but you must stay by their side. They are counting on you.

Guest Article.