Drug abuse and addiction affect people in tremendous ways. Indeed, people struggling with addiction are the epicenters. But addiction’s shockwaves affect everyone in these people’s close personal circles. That often means family members of an addicted person are some of the most affected people.
It can be hard to know how to best support a loved one who is struggling with heroin addiction. Getting your loved ones connected to professional heroin addiction help should be your ultimate goal. But that may not happen right away. Along the road to that goal, there are many things you can do to offer help for heroin addiction in someone you love. Contact 833.551.2304 to learn more about Gulf Breeze Recovery’s heroin detox center in Gulf Breeze, Florida.
How to Provide Heroin Addiction Help for Your Loved One
Addiction is one of those topics that can suck the air out of a room. Many people don’t know how to interact with a loved one struggling with addiction. Moreover, stigma and misunderstanding remain prevalent.
One of the first and best ways to support your loved one is by educating yourself about addiction and how it affects people. Refrain from judging them or blaming them for their addiction. Someone who has hit rock bottom because of addiction is not there by choice, nor is it helpful to lean into a personal responsibility narrative that downplays how addiction is truly a disease. Below are other ways you can provide your loved one with help for heroin addiction.
1. Connect Them to Professional Help
Your loved one may be resistant at first, or they may not want to discuss their addiction in ways that leave an opening for this to happen. A few tips for talking to them about their drug abuse include:
- Don’t delay or push off the conversation
- Seek to listen and hear their perspective
- Share your concerns in a straightforward manner
- Offer them tangible information about where to get treatment
- Don’t expect a single conversation to be all that it takes
The first and the best thing you can do for someone you love is to get them connected to professional addiction treatment. Chances are very slim that they can overcome addiction without formal treatment.
2. Help Them Plan for and Deal with Triggers and Cravings
If someone you love is struggling with addiction, chances are you share the same goal: recovery and healing. Another way to offer heroin addiction help throughout their recovery process is to help them plan for and deal with triggers and cravings. Triggers are stimuli or scenarios that make someone want to use drugs again. Cravings are precisely what they sound like—a desire to use drugs, which often has a physical and emotional component.
You can aid your loved one by helping them identify their triggers and when they are most likely to experience cravings. Then, using that information, plan with them about how to deal with those in a healthy way.
3. Accept the Possibility of Setbacks
It’s okay to have high hopes for your loved one’s recovery. But don’t give them the impression that you expect miraculous transformation as soon as they enter treatment. Relapse and difficulties are common when trying to overcome an addiction. Don’t give up on them if they experience bumps in the road. At the same time, it’s okay to have high expectations for your loved one and to get on their case if they are not investing in their recovery like they should.
Find Heroin Addiction Treatment in Florida at Gulf Breeze Recovery
Getting your loved one connected to professional heroin addiction help is one of the best ways to support them. Contact Gulf Breeze Recovery today at 833.551.2304 to find out how we can serve your loved one and help them recover from addiction.
