Substance abuse problems and addictions are not only a problem for the individual victim, but are also a challenge for the guardians and family members of the user. As a mother, it can be devastating to see the structure of the family disintegrate in your home due to a drug abuse problem of one person in the house. Even though the addict might realize that they have a problem, and they realize it is affecting everyone in the family, they are physically and mentally incapable of taking action.

In this case, it is your job to make a decision and make a move. After all, you only want what’s best for the victim and for your family. People often fail to make a decision because they simply don’t know what direction to go in. These are some of the best options to consider if you want to help a family member with an addiction problem.

Support At Home

The first thing you can do is create a supportive environment at home. Giving your family members ultimatums, threatening to leave them, or trying to forcefully stop them from using them will never help. Instead, this will push them deeper into the addiction. 

If you consistently have a negative attitude, it will only create a feeling of shame in the person, it will create resentment, and eventually, they will nose dive even deeper into addiction. The best solution is to focus on positive reinforcement to somehow uplift their mood and try and motivate them for things that you want to see them do. If they are applying for a job, rather than telling them to get sober first, motivate them by telling them they can do it and that they are doing a great job by trying to focus in the right direction.

Therapy

If you feel that the problem is more of a mental challenge or that the addiction might be stemming from some kind of mental problems such as stress, depression, or anxiety, consider therapy. Discuss the importance of talking to a professional in a neutral environment with the victim and find a good therapist to talk to. 

This could be in the form of group therapy or it could be a one-on-one therapy session. You could also go for an online therapy service or an in-person service. The therapists at Southern California Sunrise Recovery Center recommend that you first come in for an evaluation and then decide which kind of treatment you want to pursue. What might seem like a drug addiction to you may in fact be a different problem altogether, and that would need a different kind of treatment. Pursuing the wrong kind of treatment could worsen the situation.

In-house Treatment

Different people react differently to different drugs. For some people, it might be relatively easy to lower their consumption when they are in a better mental state. For others, it might be very difficult to even slightly change their drug usage no matter the changes in the external environment. 

If you see that support at home isn’t working at all, maybe in-house treatment will be a better choice. This is very true for extremely hard drugs such as fentanyl, which has recently been creating a major opioid crisis throughout the US. What’s worse is that if your family member is using multiple kinds of drugs it can be very difficult to control any one of them. In such cases, you need professional help in which they can get specialized treatment for both their physical and mental condition. in-house services offer extensive treatment because the patient is under observation for 24 hours for as long as it takes to get them to overcome their problem.

Medications

If you can motivate your loved ones to start trying to reduce their drug consumption on their own, this would be fantastic. They will most likely experience some discomfort and some withdrawal symptoms, but this can be taken care of with over-the-counter medications. There are a number of FDA-approved drugs that help with depression, sleep problems, pain, and a number of other common issues that arise when people try to get off drugs. You can buy these yourself and use them in the prescribed doses till your family member is able to completely eliminate drug use from their routine.

Fighting a drug problem is something that takes time. Not only is it hard to get off the drug but you have to factor in that there will be many times when the victim relapses. You will feel like you are getting close to the finish line, but the problem sprouts again. The important thing is that you stay consistent with your strategy and you maintain a positive mindset throughout. However, be conscious of the situation. If one strategy isn’t working out, there is no harm in trying another.