If your loved one is going through addiction or having treatment for their addiction, the home environment calls for balance and creating a safe household. However, sometimes such goals may get challenging to achieve while living with an addict.
Let’s understand what is addiction and how it may pose danger to you or your home environment.
Understanding addiction
Addiction is a disease that can cause changes in the brain. The dopamine receptors in an addicts’ brain get activated and start telling the brain that drugs are rewards for the body. Over time, the brain convinces the body that drugs are a necessity for the body and the body starts depending on it for survival.
This makes addiction a chronic or life-long illness. But it does not mean that addiction cannot be cured. It is treatable. Inpatient rehab, counselling, rehab center california and health coaching are some of the options. During the recovery phase, accountability and help from friends and family are very important.
How addiction can affect family members
Addiction affects every family member in different manners. Some of these effects are:
- depression
- guilt
- anxiety and stress
- anger
- embarrassment
- financial problems
- inconsistencies in routines, rules and schedules,
- physical danger
- security danger
Tips for living with a loved one who has an addiction
When dealing with a family member who is an addict, it is important to remember that it is not your fault nor you can fix it alone. So do not take the burden of your loved one’s recovery solely on your own. If you are a parent and helping your child go through addiction recovery, keep a positive approach to the process.
You can take steps to help your family member on the road to recovery. Consider the following tips:
- Keep you and your family safe. This is very important if you have family members who are vulnerable, such as elderly relatives, children and pets. Make sure they are safe and boundaries are set around them.
- Have a response plan in case of emergency. You can request backup from family, friends or therapists. If somebody is intoxicated with a substance, they may pose danger to anyone, so don’t hesitate to contact the police if matters escalate.
- Restrict access to money. A person with an addiction may do whatever they can to get access to money to buy the substance they want. So take them off credit cards and any personal bank accounts. Also, consider opening up a new bank account for yourself as a precaution.
- Encourage treatment. Talk to your loved one about taking part in a treatment plan. Consult a specialist who may prescribe medicines for withdrawal symptoms, which you can get easily from https://www.pricepropharmacy.com/online-pharmacy/. Moreover, the treatment can be done in the form of psychotherapy, rehab and nutrition counselling.
- Join a support group. Support groups are available online and in-person that help address the needs and help of those who have a loved one who is an addict.
