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Drug addiction is a mental illness, which weakens a person’s capacity to control the urge of consuming drugs even though it affects their health; therefore, you must not behave rudely with a drug addict, if you find them doing something that is unexpected. Since they are suffering from a grave mental problem, you should try to help them irrespective of the way they behave with you. It applies to everyone from family members and relatives to friends and colleagues. As a society, it’s our moral responsibility to help people around us live a better life by providing them with that much-needed support, and drug addicts are no exceptions.
We should try to empower each other to transform the world. Since drug addiction is a brain disease, you need to pay even more attention to those struggling with it. Yes, rather than being hard on drug addicts, you should try to figure out ways to help them in their recovery process.
So, if your teenage son is suffering from the same, here’s how you should behave with them.
Be Their Friend
If you do not want to hurt the feelings of your child, be their friend. It’s the only way to win their heart and convince them to share their secrets with you. Because drug addicts always receive rude behavior from others; they shy away from speaking about their problems. They try to hide their dilemmas from the society, which keep on enhancing the complications they face with the passage of time.
So, if you want your child to confide their problems to you, then you should get ready to be their friends.
Be Polite To Them
Your child not only loves you the most in this world but they also trust you the most; therefore, it’s your responsibility to keep that trust and love intact by respecting their feelings and understanding their situation. In other words, if your child does something that makes you angry, you should try to realize that they are dealing with a mental health issue that needs professional help. So, rather than reacting back with similar aggression, you should learn how to remain calm and behave politely.
In case they are yelling at you, try to figure out why they are doing so.
Don’t Punish Them
Most people embrace punishment as a tool to improve the life of their loved one who is suffering from drug addiction. They think that if they start punishing the addict, they will quit their bad habit of consuming drugs like cannabis, cocaine, and alcohol, etc., which will then improve their health gradually.
However, what you need to know here is, drug addiction is not a habit that they can quit without professional help. Your child needs professional guidance to live a normal life once again. So, instead of punishing them try to identify tried and tested ways of solving their problem.
Convince Them To Seek Treatment
Seeking treatment is the only way to recover from drug addiction; therefore, you should try to convince your child to meet a reliable healthcare expert.
However, most people often get confused when it comes to treating this problem because there are several ways of doing so. A lot of people often fail to make the right choice when it comes to taking treatment for drug addiction. And, perhaps that’s the reason it takes a long time for them to recover from their problem.
So, once you convince your child, you should then focus on discovering, which is the best way to recover from drug addiction. A lot of people take medications to recover from their problem; however, that doesn’t serve the purpose always. The kind of treatment that most people rely on to get back to their normal life is behavioral therapy.
Yes, behavioral therapy, that help in treating a wide range of mental conditions, is the best way to treat drug addiction. It’s an umbrella term that stands for a wide range of therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Family Behaviour Therapy, Contingency Management Interventions, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Family Behaviour Therapy, and 12-Step Facilitation Therapy, etc.
When it comes to seeking treatment, your child can either opt for an inpatient program or an outpatient program based on the severity of their addiction. However, no matter what kind of treatment program they seek, taking a quick decision to get professional help has its benefits.
According to Charter Harley Street, “Drug addiction is a progressive condition that worsens with the passage of time; therefore, the sooner you take treatment, the better it is for your recovery.”
Besides, seeking the assistance of experts is also essential for family members so that that they can behave accordingly with the addict and maintain their well-being at the same time. Yes, as a family member, you too need the help as you live with a person struggling with a mental condition. It can affect your life in multiple ways, so you have to take care of that.
Encourage Them To Stay Occupied
Once the treatment is over, you should always encourage your son to stay occupied to avoid relapse. You can inspire them to engage in activities like reading, writing, painting, or learning music etc.
Besides, you can also motivate them to focus on improving their health by embracing regular exercise. It will help your son avoid relapse and live a sober life.
