It’s a fine line when you’re trying to help someone you love who is addicted to drugs and/ or alcohol. Too much help can be termed “codependent,” essentially making their addiction possible by providing them with a place to stay, money to feed their habit and helping them to lie and cover up addictive behavior in front of others. Too little help and your friend or family member may not realize that there is a way out of addiction through detox and treatment.

Offer Medical Help Instead of Financial Support

One way to help your loved one not only realize that there help is available but also recognize that they have a problem that is affecting their life and the lives of those around them is to organize a drug addiction intervention. A staged meeting that includes close family, friends and community leaders like clergy who are close to the person suffering from addiction is most common. A neutral mediator is often invited to help everyone maintain focus and keep things short and specific.

The Goal of a Drug Addiction Intervention

The point is of an intervention is two-fold. The first goal is to give concrete examples of events that illustrate how the addict is hurting herself and others. This is usually done first to help the person being confronted understand the depth and severity of the situation.

The second goal of an drug addiction intervention is for the addict to choose drug rehab—immediately. An ultimatum is usually made: go to drug rehab or lose something specific and important. This “something specific and important” can be a spouse saying, “Get help or I’m divorcing you,” or it can be a parent telling a child, “Get help or move out.” The point is that the consequences for not choosing to get help immediately—that is, walk out the door, get in the car and drive directly to a drug rehab like The Canyon—are dire and also immediately effective.

Though it may sound harsh, a drug addiction intervention can be a valuable way to help your loved one get the help they need now. If you need assistance, check here the rest of the month for more tips or contact The Canyon if you would like a professional interventionist to assist you in approaching your loved one on the subject of drug addiction treatment.

There’s no doubt that in 99.9 percent of cases, the first use of any recreational drug is voluntary. Even the use of an addictive prescription drug, ultimately, is voluntary. But what about addiction? Do you choose to use or is it an uncontrollable compulsion?

What the Experts Say About the Nature of Drug Addiction

The answer is: a little bit of both. The compulsion to use and the craving for a drug of choice are both characteristics of drug addiction as a medical disease. Yes, the first step to developing this disease—like smoking that leads to lung cancer—is voluntary, but once the disease has developed, it’s pretty much out of your hands. You started it, opened the door to its manifestation, but now that it’s here, it is a medical problem and not one you can erase with apologies and promises not to do it again.

Voluntary Drug Use Versus Involuntary Drug Addiction

When does the voluntary action cross the line into compulsive behavior? That is different for everyone. Tolerance levels vary in each individual, as does the predilection for addictive behavior. The drug used plays a part as well as the dosage, the length of time the drug is taken, how often, and other drugs it is mixed with. All of these factors dictate when and to what extent the brain is changed and at what point the idea to use becomes a craving.

Tracking The Evolution of Drug Abuse Into Drug Addiction

No matter when it happens, this transition occurs unbeknownst to the user. No one intends to get addicted, but when it happens, treatment is the only way to put the disease into remission. If you’re not psychologically addicted, treating the physical addiction with a substitution and detox drug like buprenorphine is all you need to get back on track and shake the cravings without going through withdrawal.

If you have a drug addition, you already know the most uncomfortable part – withdrawal. Not every drug has physical withdrawal symptoms, but practically every addictive drug has a psychological addiction. Much of the power of addiction is it’s affect on your thoughts and beliefs. When you face an ugly withdrawal period, you could go to a drug treatment center that provides medically supervised drug detox, or go cold turkey on your own. Let’s look honestly at both sides.

Privacy

Cold Turkey – Certainly this option would provide a lot of privacy. You could choose to isolate yourself completely and you would have no interruptions. You could ask a friend to check in on your after a couple of days. However, it pays to look at the rest of the list to see if being totally alone is really the safest idea.

Drug Treatment Center – Doing a drug detox at a private drug treatment center gives you about as much privacy as you could get with some important benefits. No one from outside the drug rehab will know you are even there unless you give express permission to release information. Most importantly, you can be assured a safe medically-assisted detox experience.

Discomfort

Cold Turkey – The pain and physical discomfort of the withdrawal experience often draws people back into their addiction. Depending on the drug you are withdrawing from, those hours and days can be anywhere from miserable and annoying to unbearable and dangerous. Many people simply go back to the drugs because they can’t handle the withdrawal symptoms and can’t see the end in sight.

Drug Treatment Center- Going the professional route doesn’t guarantee a pain-free experience. But for some drug withdrawals, a doctor can prescribe medications to ease the physical cravings and lessen the overall discomfort. This is most commonly done with opiates due to their highly physically addictive nature.

Emotional Support

Cold Turkey – You may feel like your willpower and desire to be done with drugs will be enough to get you through. But keep in mind how emotionally fragile you are from being on drugs in the first place. What happens when it gets really tough? Can you count to your friends who are on drugs and understand the experience? Can you turn to friends and family who are sober and want you to come through it, but may not know how to help you?

Drug Treatment Center – Professionals at a drug treatment center have helped many people in your situation. They won’t get rattled by the emotional things you say or do. These folks are also trained to help you stay encouraged, listen to you, and give you accurate information on your progress to give you hope. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Something Going Wrong

Cold Turkey – Most people are not at risk of dying from attempting a cold turkey detox at home (although it might feel like it). It can be extremely uncomfortable, but it rarely becomes fatal. However, if you have untreated medical problems and you try detox on your own, you could be putting your life at risk.

Drug Treatment Center- The advantage of going to a drug treatment center is knowing that your health is being carefully watched. If anything should get difficult, you can be transferred to a nearby hospital until you are out of danger.