How To Get Help For Someone Suffering From Addiction

Substance abuse and addiction can cause any relationship to be strained. The addiction you see a loved one struggling with can push you to the edge, and you may wonder what to do next when all your efforts to help them seem to be failing and they are fading away in front of your eyes. 

It Is Not Your Fault And You Are Not Alone

“Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there”

Robert Downey Jr.

The first thing you need to do is recognize that this is not your fault, and this is actually very common. There are over 275,000 adults in contact with drug and alcohol services annually in the UK not including private services, with the most common addiction being opiates, and the second most common being alcohol. Other common addictions include: 

• Miscellaneous drugs (such as ecstasy, Meow Meow, crystal meth)
• Cocaine
• Amphetamines
• Sex
• Gambling

Addictions can happen for a number of reasons. When your loved one is suffering, it can be so easy to constantly wonder why their addiction has happened, and worse, place blame on yourself for either the addiction, or not being able to help them stop. 

Know that addiction is a very strong and challenging condition for anybody, and only the individual can get over it. You cannot get over it for them, or force them to get over it. 

What you can do, though, is help them get the help that they need to recover. 

How To Help Your Loved One Get Help With Addiction Recovery

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regardless of where your loved one gets their addiction treatment, the first step to getting them there is an intervention. 

Intervention – The First Step To Recovery 

An intervention is where in a supportive and loving environment you ‘intervene’ and confront the addict. This kind of approach looks different for every family and friendship group. Sometimes it might just be one person who speaks to the addict, sometimes the whole family is involved. In some cases, you may wish to enlist a private intervention counselor or interventionist who can help your loved one move towards an addiction-free life. 

The second step is the treatment itself, which can come in the form of NHS funded rehab, charity funded rehab, or private services. 

NHS Funded Rehab

You are entitled to rehabilitation from the NHS, but all NHS waiting lists have been in the headlines recently as being at a record high, and sadly drug and alcohol support services are not separate from those figures. The quality of treatment can also be very generic, and differs depending on your location. Lastly, if you require confidential rehab services, the NHS is unlikely to give you the kind of discretion your loved one might desperately need, which can be a barrier to them agreeing to treatment in the first place. 

Charity Funded Rehab

There are charities that can help your loved one get a place in rehab. As with the NHS, though, the treatment on offer may well be strained, and the waiting times are very long. 

Private Rehabilitation Services

If you or your loved one has the finances available, the very best rehabilitation services are within the private rehab industry. It does cost a lot of money, but realistically you cannot put a price on the future of a person. Addictions are so challenging, and they can rob a person not only of their future prospects, but in the most tragic cases, of their life. If there is ever a time to invest money into a private health service, this is it. 

Private addiction rehab services are extensive and they can be as comprehensive as your loved one needs. Often, the best private rehab services include:

• Intervention options
• Confidential rehab advice
• Medical detoxing
• Inpatient and outpatient therapies
• Group and one to one therapies
• Relapse prevention
• Extensive aftercare
• Discretion at all times 
• A tailor-made therapeutic plan 
• Luxury rehab options

As a general rule, you can expect a supervised medical detox service in addition to gentle therapeutic exploration to get to the root cause of the problem. 

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom”

–Edgar Allen Poe

The combination approach to rehab gives your loved one the best possible chance of not just recovering short-term, but being clean long-term.

No rehabilitation service is 100% and relapse rates can be 40-60% across certain addiction types. However, relapse can be avoided with the right therapies, and rehab can always be attempted again and again until full addiction recovery likelihood is more stable. The key is providing the right support and treatment to give your loved one the best possible chance at long-term success. 

You Can Get Your Loved One The Help They Deserve

Wherever you are in your journey with an addicted loved one, please know that there are options out there and they can get themselves clean. Consider intervention, funded and private rehab services so that you know which facilities are available to get your loved one to the help they need. Hopefully, they can reach support soon to get one step closer to regaining their future prospects, and the healthy, fulfilling life they deserve.

“I am not defined by my relapses, but by my decision to remain in recovery despite them.” – Anonymous