How to Support a Loved One Struggling with Addiction

Addiction can be truly devastating for families. 21.6% of Canadians meet the criteria for substance abuse, and there are so many other types of addiction. It impacts on the sufferer’s loved ones, such as yourself. And you’ll need to take care of them and look after yourself.

Navigating this process might feel overwhelming – but even though you might not know what actions to take now, there are steps you can take. In this article, we’ll provide all the advice needed to support a loved one struggling with addiction.

What Is Addiction? What You Need to Know

It’s clear from research that addiction is not just a lifestyle choice. In fact, it is a complex health condition, and there are various types, including:

• Substance Use – This includes soft drugs, hard drugs or alcohol consumption and involves using these substances in amounts that can harm the individual.
• Gambling – Gambling addictions involve continuing to gamble despite losing a lot of money or noticing that the addiction is taking up significant amounts of their time.
• Food – A food addiction involves constantly craving sweet or junk food and the compulsive consumption of these types of food.
• Tobacco – Tobacco addictions include not being able to stop using nicotine or tobacco and is seen in the compulsive use of this substance.

Individuals may avoid seeking addiction treatment since each addiction comes with stigmas and misconceptions – your loved one, in this case, may feel discouraged from seeking support to follow a path to wellness. Shame and being judged are two additional challenges they might face.

Main Signs of Addiction

The signs of addiction and substance use disorders are not just emotional, they’re behavioral and physical too. Your loved one might experience:

• Cravings
• Guilt
• Depression
• Emotional indifference
• Withdrawal from social activities

Addiction may not only have a devastating impact on your loved ones’ relationships, but also affects their work, and all aspects of their daily life. In relationships, it can cause issues with trust; at work, it can reduce productivity, and in daily life, addiction can ruin healthy routines.

Providing Support without Enabling

You’ll need to support your loved one and avoid enabling behaviors to handle these challenges. Enabling may include passively encouraging negative behaviors with specific actions, such as:

• Pretending there is no issue
• Offering money to them so that they can use it for their negative behaviors.
• Making excuses for their negative behaviors.
• Allowing the negative behaviors to continue.

Instead, providing support includes:

• Listening to them
• Providing words of encouragement
• Avoiding solving their problems on their behalf

It’s by educating yourself about addiction that you’ll find the right words of encouragement – and, beyond this, you’ll be able to empathize with them and understand what they’re going through.

Encouraging Professional Help

To encourage professional help, you’ll need to start a conversation about seeking treatments. To do this, empathy (empathizing) is fundamental. This will help you show that you care about your loved one without judgment. You may want to start with open-ended questions such as “How have you been lately?” or “Would you like to talk about anything?”

Once you’ve started the conversation, you should listen to what they are going through and help them choose their next step. Possible treatment options include the following:

Therapy – Therapies may include the kinds treating individuals who experience negative thought patterns linked with addiction. For example, talking therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy helps them identify and challenge negative thought patterns linked with addiction.

Rehab – If a loved one is experiencing addiction to drugs, such as opioid addictive, or alcohol, rehab may be a key process of treatment. It combines medical treatment plans and psychotherapy in a structured environment and can also include individual counselling and group therapy.

Support Groups – In support groups, your loved ones can share their experiences related to their addiction challenges. The community-based group provides an environment of acceptance and understanding, help with problem-solving, and offers encouragement.

Soft Laser Auricular Therapy – Addiction is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Certain neuro-transmitters levels in the brain are off balance due to long time use of addictive substances or long-time practice of addictive behaviors. Auricular therapy is a groundbreaking treatment based on acupuncture theory that helps adjust neuro-endocrine balance in the nerve system by stimulating certain acupoints on the external ears.

The modern version of auricular therapy uses low-level soft lasers to replace traditional needles.  It improves efficacy and reduces invasion. Advanced soft laser auriculotherapy protocols are offered at Stop Centres, which are naturopathic clinics operated in the greater Montreal area and Quebec City for over 25 years.  It is accredited by provincial and federal governments and relies on soft laser equipment that we develop in-house to help your loved ones thrive in their recovery journey.

There are different programs, such as Stop Hard Drugs™, Stop Soft Drugs™, Stop Alcohol™ for drugs or alcohol use disorders; and Stop Tobacco™ treatment programs for smoking cessation; as well as other programs in related health issues such as Stop Appetite™, Stop Weight™, Stop Anxiety™, Stop Stress™, and Stop Gambling™.

Caring for Yourself as a Supporter

Real emotional toll can come into play when supporting a loved one experiencing addiction. That is why taking care of your mental health is important during this process. You might find that therapies, support groups for yourself, and self-care strategies can help. For instance, you may choose to attend an online or in-person support group.

There are other ways to calm your mind as well, which could include surrounding yourself with nature, exercising, improving your sleep, or being creative to focus your mind on a creative outlet.

It’s common to experience caregiver burnouts, when a loved one is experiencing addiction. Handling this may involve looking for support from trusted friends, managing stress with relaxation skills, such as deep breathing and meditation.

Resources for Families and Friends

If you’re searching for resources as a family member supporting someone with addiction, many are available below.

Helplines

Various helplines you can call to aid your loved ones or yourself in Canada. These include:

Narcotics Anonymous: 1-855-562-2262

Drug Rehab Services: 1-877-254-3348

Families for Addiction Recovery: 1-855-377-6677

Provincial and Territorial Quit Smoking Services: 1-866-366-3667

Organizations

Many organizations that can support your loved ones on their path to wellness and recovery in Canada, including:

SMART Recovery: Offers free support meetings online and in-person for those looking for science- and evidence-based addiction recovery.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Provides free group meetings for individuals seeking recovery from alcohol addiction.

Crystal Meth Anonymous: Virtual and in-person free meetings for individuals looking to recover from a crystal meth drug addiction.

Moms Stop the Harm: Support groups specifically for families with loved ones experiencing substance abuse.

Books

Books are available to help your loved ones navigate their addictions and provide strategies for recovery. These include:

The Addiction Recovery Skills Workbook by Suzette Glasner-Edwards PhD and Richard A Rawson PhD

Understanding and Helping an Addict by Dr. Andrew Proulx

The Beyond Addiction Workbook by Jeffrey Foote PhD, Kenneth Carpenter PhD, et al

Support Your Loved Ones on the Path to Recovery with Stop Centres

The path to recovery requires patience and understanding. The journey towards wellness can be achieved – with the right steps, and there are organizations ready and waiting to help you.

Stop Centres is one of those organizations. We encourage you to contact us today to help your loved ones leave addiction behind. Contact one of our four locations and discover how laser therapy can change your loved one’s life for the better.