Trying to help a loved one who is struggling with addiction is never easy. Your loved one may not want help or may not think of themselves as worthy of sobriety. How can you determine if your loved one needs a drug intervention? What can you do to prepare yourself, and what should you do if they don’t accept treatment are common questions when it comes to drug interventions. Find out how to be ready for your loved one’s drug intervention.
How do I Know my Loved One Needs a Drug Intervention?
Watching your loved one struggle isn’t easy, whether it be your adult child, your spouse, or a parent, it’s never easy to live through the impact that addiction has on families. If talking to, begging, and bargaining with your loved one hasn’t worked to get them into a drug or alcohol rehab it may be time to take the next step. A drug intervention can be the final push to get your loved one into substance abuse treatment.
Your loved one who needs the drug intervention may deny having a problem or lie about the severity of their use. Denial can be a massive roadblock to addiction recovery. There are some telltale signs that your loved one is using despite what they are telling you.
Signs that your loved one needs a drug intervention:
- Secretive behavior
- Mood swings
- Erratic behavior
- Deterioration of physical appearance
- Rapid weight loss/gain
- Problems with employment or school
- Health issues (frequent hospital trips, doctor shopping, etc.)
- Constant intoxication
- Problems with the law (arrests, warrants, etc.)
- Displaying withdrawal symptoms, withdrawal signs are different for different drugs make sure you know the symptoms
Many who deal with substance use disorders also struggle with mental health diagnoses like depression and anxiety. Make sure to take any previous or possible undiagnosed mental health disorders into account when you are considering staging a drug intervention for your loved one. Keeping their mental health in mind may help you choose an appropriate drug rehab for them. Determining that your loved one needs a drug intervention isn’t as hard as you may think. The signs of addiction are usually apparent once someone has attempted to get help before. If you have to ask yourself the question, “Does my loved one need a drug intervention?” The answer is yes. All the signs of addiction, even with doctor prescribed medications like Xanax, present themselves.
If you have determined that your loved one does need a drug intervention, then it’s time to prepare for the intervention. You can start by contacting a drug intervention specialist and taking their direction to get ready to stage the intervention.
How to Prepare Yourself for Your Loved One’s Drug Intervention
There are steps to a drug intervention. Depending on the situation, the only real difference will be the timeline of how long the drug intervention lasts. The first step is always realizing that your loved one needs a drug intervention.
Drug Intervention Guide
- Get help from a professional drug intervention specialist. You can contact a drug intervention specialist here.
- Work with your drug intervention specialist, they will direct you in forming a drug intervention team. This group is typically made up of family members, close friends or children of your addicted loved one. Anyone who is struggling with addiction themselves should not be a part of the intervention team.
- Plan. Have a well-structured and prepared plan. It is important to take as many unknown factors out of the equation as possible. Planning allows for everyone to be prepared. The only unknown should be if your loved one is going to treatment after the drug intervention. Your drug intervention specialist will help you through the crucial parts of planning such as scheduling a specific date, time, location, and agenda of the intervention. It is important to take as many unknown factors out of the equation as possible.
- Every person on your drug intervention team should write an intervention letter, if you need more information on intervention letter, click here.
- Set boundaries! There must be consequences for your loved one if they do not accept treatment after their drug intervention or if they fail to complete rehab. You must stick to your boundaries. Boundaries are meant for you, they are what you will not allow in your life, and you must enforce them once they are set.
- Practice. A drug intervention is an emotional roller coaster and often the culmination of years of watching your loved one destroy themselves and wreak havoc in yours and their lives. Having a drug intervention specialist to guide you and your intervention team through the process is crucial. Have a run-through with everyone beforehand to make sure that everyone can get their letters read, and that any unexpected emotions popping up can be dealt with before the actual drug intervention.
- Having a substance abuse treatment plan set up before the drug intervention takes place is crucial. Have everything set up ahead of time so when your loved one accepts help, transportation to treatment can be immediate. There is no time to wait to get your loved one into treatment. Remain supportive while your loved one is in addiction treatment.
All of these steps can be broken down and explained in greater detail by your drug intervention specialist, this list is a general overview of the process. Preparing yourself for your loved one’s drug intervention is important. You should prepare yourself for the best-case scenario of them accepting treatment, but you also must prepare yourself for the opposite.
What to do if Your Loved One Won’t Accept Treatment After a Drug Intervention?
There is always the possibility that your loved one won’t accept the help offered to them during a drug intervention. While this is unfortunate and may seem like all hope is lost, this is not always the case. You have set your boundaries and made them clear to your loved one. Now that they have turned down your help to get into substance abuse treatment, it is time to implement these boundaries.
Setting and standing firm in your boundaries after a drug intervention is crucial to continue to help yourself and your loved one. Setting these boundaries in place may help your loved one seek treatment on their own. There is nothing else that you can do if your loved one doesn’t accept the help offered in the drug intervention.
Being that cut and dry can sound very harsh, but it gives you a chance to begin healing yourself until your loved one is ready to enter substance abuse treatment. While drug interventions aren’t always successful, they can be the beginning of your loved one seeking treatment for themselves.
Are You Ready to do a Drug Intervention for Your Loved One?
If you are ready to stage an intervention for your loved one? Contact us at (855) 448-3588. We have certified drug intervention specialist that will coordinate an intervention with you. Our admissions team will also remain in contact with you to ensure that if your loved one accepts help, the transportation can happen smoothly and quickly to help your loved one. Don’t wait any longer! You don’t need permission to try to save a life.
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