Whether it is a friend, sibling, spouse, or parent, having someone in your life who is struggling with an addiction problem has many challenges. It not only impacts personal relationships but it disturbs the social fabric in the environment and compounds issues further. In recent times, addiction problems across the country have soared. This was partly fueled by the economic and social challenges people were facing and partly promoted by the influx of new drugs such as fentanyl.
For a caregiver, it can be difficult and extremely stressful to watch a person they love face these problems. When you feel like you are making a bit of progress, you suddenly relapse and you are back to square one. However, there is always a solution if you are looking to put in the time and effort. Here are some tips to help deal with addiction problems.
Learn About The Issue
Drug addiction is not just what meets the eye. In fact, what you see is the result of a number of different changes in the person’s body, mind, and physiology. Especially if you are dealing with someone who has been a chronic user of hard drugs, the substance abuse will definitely have had a profound impact on their body.
Even after a period of withdrawal, you will still face a lot of problems. It will take time for the body to fully recover and come back to its normal state. Learning about the different challenges that patients have to deal with, especially during the withdrawal phase, will make it that much easier to handle the situation. The withdrawal phase is also where most patients make a mistake and relapse. It is the most challenging part of the process. If you can successfully clear this stage, you’ll be on the right track.
Counseling
Drug abuse and drug addiction is a physical phenomenon but it often stems from mental problems. This could be stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, or just the fact that a person has been brought up in an environment where drug abuse was common and normalized. When you are trying to help someone overcome such a problem you are essentially helping them learn a new way of thinking. This requires proper counseling in order to be effectively addressed. You can find numerous psychologists and therapists who can help in this matter.
Even if you can’t find one locally, you can always look into bigger cities such as Orange County where professionals are available for online sessions. If you happen to live in that city, then you can look for a good rehab in Orange County and have the patient treated there. This will speed up the recovery process tremendously and give you much better results. Therapists deal with these problems on a daily basis and they have the skills and expertise to pinpoint the problem and tackle it from there.
Medical Assistance
In some situations, especially in the case of hard drugs like heroin and fentanyl, the patient needs medical intervention. This is not just through over-the-counter drugs, but proper medication that will help the patient heal. This is another very specialized form of treatment where you will need to have access to an experienced professional. This is often the only solution for people with extremely severe addictions.
However, it can also be a great way to quickly resolve the issue for those with mild addiction problems. At the very least, you can consult with the relevant professional to find out if this is the right solution for you.
Care At Home
Treatment doesn’t end when the person comes back home. In fact, this is one of the most important phases of treatment. At home, the patient is exposed to their natural environment, they have access to all kinds of potential triggers that place them in a very delicate situation where they can easily relapse into their old behavior. Knowing how to manage the situation at home is a critical skill for caregivers. The better the management at home is, the easier and smoother the recovery process will be.
Recovering from drug addiction is not like recovering from a flesh wound. There is no definitive end to the recovery process. Rather, it is something that the patient deals with on a daily basis. There are plenty of cases of people who have been clean for several years, even decades, and then suddenly relapsed for some reason. Taking care of an addiction problem is the responsibility of the caregiver as well as the patient. When both can play their parts the right way, a healthy and positive lifestyle can be achieved. Even when afforded the best medication and therapy, patients still need to put in their best efforts to help themselves lead a better lifestyle.