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Substance abuse and drug addiction are certainly not easy to deal with, especially for the family of a drug addict. Early signs of a problem present themselves in the form of constant requests for money, a defensive nature, and keeping secrets. If the drug problem continues, it may pose a serious risk to the addict’s health and certain steps need to be taken to get the person clean and sober.

Once an addict’s health has been compromised due to their problem with drugs, it may be time for friends and family members to consider a drug intervention. Interventions are often last ditch efforts to help a family member get off drugs, and not all interventions are successful.

Sometimes interventions can be effective when they take place in the opening stages of an addict’s habituation. Small, intimate interventions composed of friends and family members voicing their opinions can convince a drug addict to give up their habit cold turkey as long as severe physical or psychological dependence has not set in. In these instances, substance abuse counselors are not entirely needed to attend the intervention, but it cannot hurt your chances of success to contact one and ask for advice.

When addiction poses too large of a problem to an addict’s health for a small intervention to be effective, contacting a counselor and asking them to be present at an intervention is a necessity. In the case of strongly addictive drugs like heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines this may be the only thing that can save a loved one’s life.

Although drug addiction can be a painful or depressing experience, it is unwise to be tolerant of a friend or family member’s drug addiction. Although sympathy is a common reaction to a loved one who has reached rock bottom due to problems with drug abuse, the only acceptable course of action is to get them into treatment and achieve abstinence. In reality, drug abuse interventions can be counter-productive. Some drugs, especially cocaine, cause paranoia in their users and interventions can be perceived as attacks or even insults to the addict. When planning a drug intervention, one should consider what the true goal of the intervention is.

During the intervention, it is helpful to remember several things. One thing is that you should not be afraid to become emotional. Drug abuse and getting clean can be a life or death situation. It is for this reason that you should express every concern in your mind to your friend or family member who has a drug problem. You should also urge other intervention team members to speak their minds, although remember that drug addicts can be offended just like everyone else. Take special care to be stern yet unintimidating in your approach.

What to Do If Interventions Fail

Failure during an intervention is common, and sometimes can hardly be avoided. Be prepared for the worst when holding an intervention. In the case that the drug addict does storm out of the house, contacting law enforcement officers may be the only available course of action left. However, if there is any possibility of convincing the addict to enter treatment, then that course of action should be pursued.