There are an increasing number of people suffering from drug addiction at the moment. The opioid crisis has hit all four corners of the globe and shows no sign of slowing down.
Meanwhile, cocaine abuse and even prescription drug misuse is also on the rise and it’s affecting all types of people, regardless of age, socio-economic status, background, race or gender. In fact, such is the scale of the problem, it could well be affecting someone you love.
Getting help for them is so important, and to do that you may wish to stage a drug intervention in order to get them on the road to recovery. But how exactly do you do that?
Start with education
The place to start is with educating yourself about addiction. You should look to understand its effects and the treatment options available. By doing this, you’ll get a firm grasp of a situation and approach it with both empathy and patience.
Explore the consequences and the resources available. This will allow you to then approach an intervention fully informed and allow you to answer any questions a loved one may have.
Gather a support team
While it’s impossible to tackle addiction alone, it’s also difficult to start an intervention in the same way. It can be a daunting task on your own, while an intervention will have more of an impact when it comes from a group of trusted family members and friends.
You still need to approach it carefully as you don’t want it to feel like you’re ganging up on them, but rather they have lots of love and support to beat this.
You can assign roles to each member of the support group and ensure everyone is prepared and coordinated ahead of the intervention.
Rehearse and plan ahead
If you want your intervention to be successful, like anything in life it’s important to plan. You need to be sure of your time, date and location, ensuring it’s in a neutral and comfortable environment.
Rehearsing can make sure you’re clear in your messaging and approach, with everyone on the same page in what they are doing. By doing this you can also iron out any questions they may have and how to navigate them in the most effective manner.
Use love and empathy
Unsuccessful interventions are usually as a result of coming on too strong and being too blunt in their approach. You should tackle interventions in a loving and empathetic manner. There should be no anger, no judgement, just concern and an expression of your feelings.
Don’t play the blame game or criticise, just focus on how yours and their lives are being impacted and the support you can provide to help them get treatment for their addiction.
Finally, provide options for treatment
And lastly, offer options for treatment and support. Within your research, you should have found multiple opportunities for them and you can talk through each one with them.
Discuss them clearly and allow them to be part of the conversation. You can help set up appointments and provide support with any meetings.
Don’t force them into an immediate choice, allow them to take some time to consider the options and revisit it as a support team once again a little further down the line. If they still don’t want help, then it may be time to offer ultimatums and increase the strength of your approach. However, it is still important to tackle the issue with care.
Staging an intervention is the first step on a road to recovery, so support them every step of the way and help get your loved one’s life back on track.
