It’s often said that a real friend will tell you the news you don’t want to hear when everyone else will choose the more natural path of silence. In no situation is this truer than when you’re dealing with a friend who is spiraling out of control due to alcohol or drug addiction.
Anyone who has ever seen someone become addicted can tell you that it’s excruciatingly painful to watch—and even more difficult is telling your friend to get help. It’s such an uncomfortable topic; most people will never have the guts actually to discuss it. This is doubly true when you aren’t sure how that person will handle it.
As a friend, you may feel it’s your duty to at least try to ask your friend to get help. The easiest way to ensure that your friend understands the gravity of the situation is to stage an intervention.
Interventions aren’t easy, but they can be doable. Here’s what anyone who wants to help their friend overcome addiction should know when setting up an intervention.
Before you begin, get others to help.
There’s strength in numbers when it comes to convincing someone to go to rehab. A single person is rarely enough to make an addict realize they need help. If they are surrounded by people who say that they are concerned for their wellbeing, it will have a profoundly different effect than if you approach them one-on-one.
Don’t tell the addict that they are going to an intervention.
The worst thing that you can do is tell an addict that you’re holding an intervention for them before they show up. This is because they won’t show up and they will become hostile. Let the response be a surprise.
Plan ahead—and think about more than just an intervention place and time.
Though it is possible to stage an intervention for a friend on your own, it’s not always advisable. In many cases, you may make a mistake that could cause the intervention to backfire.
Addicts can become very unpredictable when they are confronted with an intervention. They may become violent or break down in tears. You need to be able to plan for everything.
You may need professional help in getting your friend the help they need. A good idea would be to call an intervention specialist who can lead the talk and hopefully convince your friend to go to rehab.
If you have a loved one struggling with drugs or alcohol, then an addiction interventionist in New Jersey can help your loved one in finding the courage to enter a treatment program.
Before you intervene, make a point to have a rehab center in mind.
You should not intervene until you know which program your friend should go to. Do your research, talk to medical professionals, and find the program which would work best for your friend or loved one.
This way, you will be able to use the momentum of the intervention to lead them to the detox or rehabilitation program of your choice.
Have information available to them before you bring them in.
A lot of addicts realize they need help, but don’t know what they will need. They may fear that going to rehab will cost them their jobs, relationships, or other lifestyle cornerstones. By educating them, you can reduce that fear.
For most people dealing with drug issues, going to a rehab center for detox in New Jersey or the state of your choice will be the first step back to health.
Finally, understand that they will have to be the one to agree to rehab.
As much as you may want them to go, setting up an intervention is all you can do to help them. They have to choose to get better, and they have to work to remove their addictions.
After all, you can’t control the actions of others. All you can do is show them why it’s essential to get better.
If your family member is dependent on his drug of choice to function, then a drug detox in New Jersey is the first step in cleansing the body from the harmful drugs in his system.
Photo by Khaled Saad on Unsplash
