Dealing with drug addiction in your family is one of the biggest challenges anyone can face. When your partner, husband or wife is an addict, what do you do? Commonly, the first thing that anyone does is to use the emotional angle. You make the addict promise to give up and not take drugs anymore. The reality is, drug abuse is a more serious problem than that and cannot be sorted out so easily. There is a myth that “Just Say No”, which Nancy Reagan popularized in the 80’s, works. However, it takes a lot more than sheer willpower to stop. The fact is, Addiction is a diagnosable disease – it has a pattern of symptoms, it is a chronic condition, and it is progressive. Even people with all the resources in the world can’t necessary beat this disease on their own. Eventually you may find out the person is secretly still on drugs. The next step is a major one – rehabilitation.
Drug addiction has two sides to it, the physical aspect and the psychological aspect. All rehabilitation centers deal with the physical aspect. The addict is totally clear of the drug and eventually the physical withdrawal symptoms no longer exist. The difficult part is the psychological aspect. Rehabilitation centers do their best in this sphere. However, this is an on-going process and something that the family system needs to continue to work on and help with. It’s important to make your partner feel secure and loved, not leaving any kind of negative untended loose ends that could lead the person back to drugs. The craving now is psychological. Any emotional low or lack could put the person back on the negative track to relapse.
The harmful effects of drugs include brain damage and a negative effect on the overall health of a person. In the long run it is detrimental to your physical and mental health. Drug addicts end up, in the true sense, wasted. Marijuana is a very widely used drug and usually the first drug that most addicts start with in their teens. Cocaine is more of a party or a high society drug; it affects the brain’s processing of dopamine – neurotransmitters that controls the brains reward and pleasure centre. Heroin is very addictive and it is extremely difficult to get a person off this drug. It is a depressant and interferes with the brains ability to feel pain. Ecstasy causes a person to lose all inhibition and brings in the desire for close physical contact; it also causes hallucinations.
Drug addiction is a very serious disease that many people deal with today. Unfortunately drugs can effect anyone no matter their race, gender, or economic class. New Directions for Women offers the same option to women, children and families who desire a similar result. Know someone who needs treatment (even if they are not a female)? There are a variety of reasons why people take drugs from helping them deal with traumatic events to self-medicating mental illness. It is important for every addict to understand the root of their addiction and how to conquer it. on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or simply by phone at 800-939-6636. We can help.
