Nearly six percent of American adults are dependent on alcohol, and close to 12 percent of Americans over 12 years old have used illicit drugs in the past month. These sobering statistics clearly show the prevalence of drug and substance use.
For each individual who is struggling with addiction, several family members hope and pray that they recover. The truth is that families play a crucial role in addiction recovery. Helping a loved one through addiction is not an easy task. Siblings, children, and parents need support.
How Educating Yourself Can Help
If you educate yourself about how addiction works and what it is, you may be able to escape the painful and counterproductive blame game. As opposed to seeing the addicted individual as stubborn, weak-spirited, or willfully malicious, you will be able to understand the brain changes that are responsible for addiction. Understanding the fact that addiction is not a choice may help you as a loving family member to let go of frustration, resentment, and anger regarding your loved one’s addiction.
Meet Other Families Who Are Dealing With the Same Challenges
Trying to support or live with a family member who has an addiction is challenging. If you have a close relative with an addiction, their addiction is probably creating stress in your life and probably has been for many years. Years of dysfunction can make it difficult for you and your loved ones to communicate openly and honestly.
Trust issues probably affect every family member touched by the addiction. Talking with peers and other family members who have gone through a similar circumstance can help. This is especially true if the families have successfully used well-established support programs.
Many programs provide families of addicts support. They provide a safe, nonjudgmental environment that allows family members to openly and honestly discuss the challenges of coping with addiction in the family.
There are a lot of benefits that come from communicating with other people who have addiction in their families. By talking to them, you can:
- Improve the quality of your life
- Learn how to have fewer problems with addicted relatives
- Lower your levels of stress
- Better your mental and psychological health
These may seem like high-level goals. However, meeting with other families who have also dealt with addiction can help. Communicating with others about the pain you experience because of your family member’s addiction can help make feelings of doubt and isolation disappear.
Getting Help Through Family Therapy
As a family member of an addict, you may be absorbing the consequences of your loved one’s substance use disorder. You may find it hard to talk about the behavior that is hurting you, so you opt to keep things bottled up. This is likely creating distance between you and your loved one, especially if you are tired of feeling like you are constantly fighting with them.
You try everything, but the addiction process continues, so you blame yourself for your addicted family member’s unhappiness. This can start a dangerous and painful cycle that prevents family members from getting help. You may lack the tools on your own to help someone actively recovering. Group family therapy sessions can help remove some guilt, doubt, and distress. They create a safe space for everyone in the family to be heard. Families that were previously defined by bitterness and anger can become a tight-knit unit committed to supporting one another with honest communication.
Manage Expectations
When your addicted family member finally takes the steps needed to get help, this can fill you with unbridled joy. There is the hope that things are going to get better. The reality is that the patterns and behaviors linked to addiction do not change overnight. Your addicted family member may become frustrated as they go through the recovery process and may relapse.
This can be disheartening to you and the rest of your family. As with any chronic illness, which addiction can be classified as, relapse is typical and should be expected during the recovery process. The family must take time to relax. This could include drawing, volunteering, playing an instrument, or just getting away. Activities of this sort help you preserve a sense of worth and boost your mental health. Does your family need help to cope with a loved one’s addiction? If so, call us today at 833-285-1315. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
