Support Loved Ones During Alcohol and Drug Recovery
Arelative’s drug or alcohol dependency can affect your whole family. You may already know that quitting drugs or alcohol isn’t easy. But the support of family and friends is invaluable during this challenging time. Here are some tips on how to help:
- Encourage them to accept your aid. Or guide them to professional help. However, avoid emotional appeals, bribes, or guilt trips.
- Include them in the day-to-day aspects of family life. Don’t strip away responsibilities— if you do, they may feel unimportant.
- Resist the urge to protect the person from the consequences of dependency. For example, don’t try to cover for them or make excuses about their behavior.
- Accept setbacks with calmness and understanding. Move forward one day at a time. Realize it may take more than one attempt before your relative can break the cycle of using or addiction.
Quick Tip To receive brochure(s) on Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center’s Chemical Dependency Program, call 909-558-9224 .
March/April 2006 A Healthy Tomorrow
The editorial content of this online publication is taken from the print version of A Healthy Tomorrow published by Loma Linda University Medical Center.