Knowing one of your family members is suffering from an addiction can cause emotional and mental stress. Addiction is a stubborn disease that’s not always the easiest to overcome or handle. When someone you love is struggling to recover from addiction, they’ll need as much support as they can get.
Living with addicts isn’t easy, however. You’re going to be faced with many challenges yourself simply by living with someone who’s battling addiction. In the guide below, you’ll find several tips for living with an addict and how to help an addicted family member.
Continue reading to learn some ways you can help yourself and your addicted family member while living with them.
1. Address Common Challenges
There are some challenges you can expect to face when living with an addict. These are common issues, so it’s best to prepare for them.
Relationship Issues
You’ll most likely see a change in their behavior, which ultimately affects their relationships with the people around them (especially those who care most about them). You can schedule regular family therapy sessions to help combat this issue. Both of you can learn how to communicate better during these difficult times.
Financial Hardships
If your loved one has dealt with addiction for quite some time, then they most likely haven’t worked a full-time job in a while. They’re facing financial hardships, which can then affect your finances as well. There’s no better time than now to seek out the help of a financial advisor.
Health Problems
Even if your loved one has completed their addiction counseling or recovery program, this doesn’t mean all their health problems magically disappear. It’s essential for your loved one to see a doctor on a regular basis to ensure good health. Schedule these appointments and offer to bring them to the appointments as well.
2. Use Resources and Educate Yourself
The more you know about their specific type of addiction, the better you can understand what they’re going through. Use resources available to you and educate yourself on the topic. Many drug treatment facilities offer educational programs for family members to teach them about addiction and how to handle the stress related to it.
3. Avoid Enabling the Addict
If you don’t let your loved one deal with the consequences of choosing addiction, then you could be enabling them to continue with their bad habits. This is easy to let happen when living with an addict. You may be enabling without even realizing it.
It could feel as though you’re only helping them, but it’s important to let them handle all consequences of their actions on their own so they’re less tempted to make the same mistakes.
4. Stay on Top of Recovery/Health
Once your loved one completes a program, there’s always a chance of them relapsing. Stay on top of their recovery and their health by ensuring no drugs are in the home. You can use drug detecting dogs to discover any drugs that might be hidden inside the home.
If you suspect they’re using again and the dogs detect drugs, then you can begin deciding on the next best step for you and them.
Living With Addicts Is a Challenge You Can Overcome
There’s no denying that living with addicts is a challenge. You’ll face many obstacles along the way, but none that you’re incapable of overcoming. Use all the information given in this guide to help you along the way.
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