Seeing someone you love go through addiction is never easy. It’s especially hard when it’s your own son or daughter. You hate seeing them suffer and in most cases, you feel like it’s your fault.
We’re here to tell you that it’s not and the worst thing that you can do is make it about you or blame yourself. Instead, you should be focusing your energy on helping them get through it and get back on their feet.
To help you get through this difficult time, here are a few pieces of advice for parents of addicts that will help not only them but you as well.
1. Be a Pillar of Support
The absolute worst thing that you can do is make your child feel like you’re judging them. Sit down and ask them how you can help without making them feel like you’re ashamed in them. If you aren’t sure how to approach it, then you should talk to therapists or professionals to get a little advice on it.
Reaching out to them is a delicate process. It’s easy to mess it up with the wrong wording. You should also do as much research as possible on addiction.
If you do your research not only will you be equipping yourself with the knowledge you need to help them but they will recognize that you are trying and they’ll appreciate it.
2. Get Them into a Treatment Center
If your child is underage this process is a little easier than if they are legal age. This is because you can make your underaged child go to a center and they’ll have to listen. They will hate you for it now because they’ll be scared but one day they’ll thank you.
If the child is of age then you’ll have to go the route of hosting an intervention to express your concerns which has a lot more potential to go wrong. No matter what direction you go in, you should make sure that you research Drug Rehab Centers first to find one that you know will meet their needs.
3. Don’t Be An Enabler
There is a fine line between loving your child and enabling their addiction. It will be hard to tell them no and even harder to be harsher with them. Again, they will hate you now but thank you later.
Make sure that you don’t give them money that they can use for drugs or alcohol. Keep in mind that they might tell you they need the money for something for school. This is when you buy the item for them rather than giving them the cash.
4. Do Not Try to Fix Them
A person with addiction will crave the drug and there is nothing that you can do to change their mindset or control that. The sooner you realize that the sooner that you can help them.
Also, if you make it known that you’re trying to “fix them” they will most likely become defensive in the matter. The best thing that you can do is go back to tip number one on this list when you feel the urge.
5. Try Family Therapy
Addiction doesn’t just put a strain on the individual with it. It puts a strain on the entire family. To this end, you should try family therapy.
You never know, something family related could be the reason your child’s addiction started and even if it’s not, there could be a history of addicts in your family. No matter the cause of the child’s addiction, family therapy helps to dig in deep to the root of the issue and bring it to light so healing can begin.
6. Don’t Forget Your Needs
When you’re trying to help your child, you might become so busy with it that you forget to take care of your own needs. This is the absolute worst thing that you can do. Your child needs you to be their rock and you can’t do that if you haven’t been sleeping or eating.
Take some time to de-stress. You can do this with meditation or taking up a hobby that you really enjoy.
If you feel like it’s getting to be a little too much don’t let these feeling fester. Go seek help from a therapist or reach out to other family members.
7. Communication is Important
You want to always keep the lines of communication open. Your child should never feel ashamed or scared of talking to you. If you give them a reason to be afraid then they will close themselves off and you’ll never hear about their treatment.
Also, make sure that you’re always listening. If you don’t then they will be under the impression that you don’t care about their treatment.
8. Don’t Be Afraid to Put Restrictions on Them
You are their parent first and their friend second. Don’t be afraid to put restrictions on them if your child is underage. This means telling them how long they can stay out or telling them if you don’t feel comfortable with someone they are hanging out with.
If they aren’t of age, but still live with you then you still have some say. For example, telling them they aren’t allowed to bring in drugs.
Key Pieces of Advice for Parents of Addicts
Watching a loved one go through addiction is never easy. It’s even harder when it’s your child. Take these key pieces of advice for parents of addicts to heart so you can help your child get back on their feet while still taking care of yourself in the process.
Is your child losing the battle against addiction even with your help? Keep reading for advice you can give them on how they can turn it around and win.
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