When a loved one struggles with opiate addiction, it’s important to support and encourage his or her efforts in recovery. What loved ones may not realize is their own well-being plays a crucial role in supporting the addict’s recovery efforts.
In effect, those closest to the addict tend to bear the brunt of his or her indiscretions and oftentimes abusive behavior. For these reasons, it’s important for loved ones to seek out opiate addiction help for themselves as part of their own recovery process.
Fortunately, there’s a range of options from which to choose when seeking out opiate addiction help for loved ones.
Call our toll-free helpline at 877-743-0081 (Who Answers?) for more information on opiate addiction help for loved ones.
Addiction’s Effects on the Family
Families work in much the same way as a system or network of relationships. In order for this system to function, individual family members fall into certain roles and behaviors and form interdependent relationships with one another.
According to the Journal of Social Work in Public Health, addiction not only disrupts the family system, but also drives loved ones to take on roles that they wouldn’t otherwise carry out. In the absence of needed opiate addiction help, these roles can start to serve a destructive purpose in terms of hampering the addict’s recovery efforts while also affecting loved ones in harmful ways.
Opiate Addiction Help for Loved Ones: Treatment Options
Family therapy promotes healthy relationship interactions.
Support Groups
Social supports play a central role in the addict’s recovery process. Likewise, the addict’s living environment has a tremendous impact on his her success in recovery.
Support groups for loved ones help educate family members on the ups and downs of addiction and the destructive effects it can have on the family unit. These groups offer much needed emotional support in terms of helping a person recover from addiction’s damaging effects in his or her life.
Support groups to consider include:
- Adult Children of Alcoholics
- Al-Anon
- Alateen
Family Therapy
According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, a number of addiction treatment programs offer family therapy as a part of the addict’s overall treatment. Family therapy provides a safe environment where the family (and the addict) can address feelings of hurt and shame brought on by addiction while developing the types of healthy relationship interactions that support a drug-free living environment.
Residential Treatment
While residential treatment programs are most often associated with addiction treatment, residential programs do exist for loved ones in need of opiate addiction treatment help. Residential treatment works particularly well in cases where a family member has strong codependency issues that make it difficult for him or her to detach from the addict’s problems. These programs can work wonders in terms of building self-esteem while helping you work through the underlying emotional issues that drive codependent behaviors.
Considerations
It’s not uncommon for the addict to become the focus of the recovery process considering how his or her drug-using behaviors are the source of the problem. In actuality, loved ones take on their fair share of addiction’s effects, and so likewise require some level of support and treatment.
Ultimately, opiate addiction help for loved ones should not be overlooked or minimized since the health of the family can make or break a recovering addict’s ability to maintain a drug-free lifestyle.
If you have questions about treatment options for family and loved ones, call our toll-free helpline at 877-743-0081 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction counselors.
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