Drug Addiction Do's and Dont's

Drug addiction can be difficult on friends and family, as well as on the person suffering from the addiction. You naturally want to help, but may be unsure how to do so effectively. A drug intervention specialist can often help your loved one get on the right track, and this method can aid in his rehabilitation before he ends up in jail..

Don’t: try to do their recovery.

While it may be tempting to carry your loved ones’ burdens, only they can go through the recovery process. Someone who struggles with addiction may find themselves relapsing, and this is not an uncommon occurrence. There is little you’ll be able to do to prevent this from happening if your loved one is on a mission and is not yet been through treatment, no matter how strongly you want to manage your loved one’s life.

Don’t: try to make them quit.

Recovering from an addiction must come from one’s own volition. You can stage an intervention, and even use a drug intervention specialist. Interventions can be helpful, because the person suffering from addiction often realizes the toll the addiction is taking on those he or she loves. However, after the intervention, it is up to him or her to take the necessary steps for treatment. The specialist can guide you to best options but the decision to change old ways must be a personal decision for the alcoholic.

Don’t: try to bargain with your loved one.

It can be tempting to offer rewards for good behavior, including monetary incentives. But these don’t seem to help the loved one in the long run. Instead, he or she often ends up breaking promises and becoming elusive, because the pull of the drug is too strong. Instead, it’s important to keep boundaries and explain these boundaries to your loved one. When you do this in love instead of anger, it demonstrates what you will and won’t accept. For example, you may decide that your adult child needs to move out of the home if he or she doesn’t seek help.

Do: keep the lines of communication open.

Those who struggle with addiction are often ashamed of their actions. They may feel weak for not being able to stop the addiction on their own. Talking frankly with your loved one, without judgment or shaming, can help him or her feel accepted. This acceptance often encourages the loved one to find help.

Do: seek support.

You may decide to seek out a support group like Al-Anon or speak with a trusted friend or family member. Sharing your struggle can often help you find some solace that doesn’t solely depend on your loved one’s recovery.

There are no easy answers for supporting someone you love who suffers from addiction. However, a drug intervention specialist can help your loved one get on the right track and perhaps choose rehabilitation vs incarceration. Sometimes all the loved one needs is a push to make a change, and getting an alcohol intervention in Philadelphia is not so elusive. There are several qualifies drug interventionists who know how to best foster the communication between all parties.

Willingness to Get Sober Starts with You

Far too many people out there mistake addictions for being little more than bad habits. The truth is that addiction is, in every way, a disease. It alters the way that your brain works, leading to issues with the way that you process and retain information as well as in how you control your moods. Unfortunately, these changes are not something that can simply be uprooted through the use of medication or with a positive attitude. One of the hallmarks of addiction is continuing to engage in an activity even when you are well aware of the risks that it poses. That’s why, in order to have any realistic chance at overcoming your alcohol dependency, you must first express a willingness to let it go.

Some may begin the journey to sobriety solely due to the desires of others. Those who use this as their motivation may experience some short-term success, yet rarely stick things out over the long haul because they are not truly committed to ending their addiction. That’s why so many addiction specialists say that the key to quitting requires honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness. Sadly, many are forced to hit the veritable “rock bottom” before acquiring that motivation.

Cultivating Your Desire to Quit

Yet you don’t have to experience great personal loss and suffering to get the willingness to quit drinking. Even if you have just a small grain of desire to stop, that can be cultivated into a full-blown commitment by adhering to the following tips:

• Don’t be ambivalent: You can’t go into the recovery process simply hoping to quit. Commit to yourself that you’re going to overcome your addiction. This forces you to be accountable to yourself rather than to others.
• Manage your expectations: Don’t expect the process to be simple. Prepare yourself for the struggles that are sure to come, and develop strategies on how to get through the hard times. At the same time, don’t make your goals so meager as to justify a relapse as a reward.
• Don’t buy into the nostalgia: Given the challenges that you’re sure to encounter, it’s easy to think of the good old days when you were drinking. This can once again make drinking appear to be an escape from your struggles. Rather than looking back, look forward to the happiness and health you’ll enjoy as your addiction abates.

While overcoming addiction depends largely on your own personal level of commitment, you also must realize that it’s a process that’s difficult to endure alone. Entering a rehab for alcoholics can help surround you with recovery minded support teams. Luckily for you, there is plenty of intervention help in NJ for you to take advantage of. Aside from your family, friends and other members of your personal support network, counselors and alcohol intervention services are also available to help give you the resources needed to help you stay steady in following the pathway to sobriety.

Facing Drug Charges? Rehab Is an Option

No matter which way you slice the pie, prisons do not perform well in rehabilitating offenders. Programs are frequently punitive, and according to a report in the Washington Post, about 66 percent of prisoners, within three years of their release, commit crimes again. In many instances, the new crime is more serious than the one that previously landed an offender in prison. This is especially bad news for people in prison on drug crimes. However, rehab should be an option for many prisoners if addition to controlled substances is an issue, particularly if someone is facing drug charges.

Clarify the Purpose of Prisons

Over the years, the purpose of prisons seems to have become muddled. In 2016, many of the crimes people are arrested for occurred while the offender was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It is even more important to clarify that the purpose of prisons should be to separate violent and potentially violent offenders from society and work toward getting these folks on the right path. Drug crimes tend to not be violent, especially if they are defined by possession. People arrested for possession often do not have weapons on them nor do they have records of violence. It makes little sense to send nonviolent offenders to prison where they can be exposed to violent offenders and be influenced to become more violent in the future.

Boost the Bottom Line

The United States spends billions of dollars annually on its prisons; staggering sums of money also go toward drug courts and drug-focused police. Rehab means fewer reoffenders; that alone saved $4 for every $1 spent in the experimental Resolve to Stop the Violence Project in San Francisco.

Focus on Rehab

Rather than come down so hard on people facing drug charges, rehab programs should be an option. One approach is through education or re-education. Another is through therapeutic communities similar to residential homes. Whether a resident (formerly called a prisoner) needs help for alcoholics, cocaine addiction or another type of addiction, he or she would be presented with drug intervention programs in NJ. Basic needs such as quality nutrition and medical care could be partially financed by the judicial budgets currently going to jail systems. Mental stimulation would occur through courses taught on all learning levels. The evidence speaks for itself; prison college programs succeed where so many others fail in preventing inmates from reoffending after they are released.

Avoid Punishment for the Sake of Punishment

Research as well as simple anecdotal evidence shows that punishing people simply for the sake of punishment often backfires. In fact, it frequently makes offenders more violent. Violence begets violence, and many people were not violent before prison.

Rehab vs. prison should be an option a judge considers at time of sentencing. Let’s reserve prisons for violent offenders, who may be the people who truly belong in prison. A drug interventionist in New Jersey can help influence nonviolent offenders to accept rehabas an option before the court system event gets involved. It is important to get to the root causes of nonviolent crimes; drug addiction and alcohol recovery programs do work.Addiction counseling helps to break the cycle of dependence. Prison has won out for far too long in the battle of rehab vs. prison. It is time to change the playing field.