Being a family member or friend of someone struggling with an addiction can be incredibly painful. It’s hard to know what to do, say, or feel. You want your son, daughter, father, friend, or brother to feel better and return to their old selves again. However, it can seem impossible to know what they’re thinking and it’s easy to rack your brain trying to understand their struggle. What do they need you to know? Will they be okay? What should you do? These questions commonly run through our minds. While we can’t truly get inside the mind of your loved one, here are a few things that your addicted loved one might want you to know, but has trouble telling you because of their disease.
They want you to get educated about their disease.
Getting educated about drug and/or alcohol addiction will help empower you towards a deeper understanding of what your loved one and so many others struggle with. Knowledge truly is power, and when you start to immerse yourself in the literature about addiction, you gain a clearer mind, greater insight into yourself and your loved one, and more empathy for those who suffer from addiction.
They want you to avoid enabling them, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
Even though it might seem otherwise, they want, or rather, need, you to avoid enabling them, as it only served to keep them in their negative cycles. Get educated on what enabling means and try to catch yourself if you’re displaying enabling behaviors towards your loved one.
They need boundaries.
Both you and your loved one need healthy boundaries. This will enable you both to grow, stay on your own paths, and work towards healing. Therapy is a great way to gain clarity around how to set and maintain healthy boundaries.
They need you to care for yourself.
Above all, your addicted loved one doesn’t want you to suffer. Self-care is so important, especially during times of heightened stress. When you love yourself, your loved one will witness the healing power of self-care.
Tree House Recovery of Orange County, California is a premiere men’s addiction treatment facility that uses eight different modalities to help our men become the best versions of themselves they can be. We teach our men that every day of their journey is something to celebrate and that recovery isn’t a sprint– it’s a marathon. To get started with Tree House Recovery, call us today at (855) 202-2138
