Tips for Parents Facing a Loved One's Addiction
- Focus on you! Make sure your self-care is a priority. Be gentle with yourself. Get plenty of sleep, eat healthfully, exercise, and maintain a strong support system. Seek out and attend regularly Al-Anon/Nar-anon meetings, parent support groups and/or listen to leads from OPEN Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous groups.
- Attend educational forums from local hospitals and treatment centers to gain an understanding of the medical aspects of addiction. If helpful, talk to an addiction counselor who has experience working with family members of loved ones impacted by heroin dependence.
- Recognize your own limitations. As parents, decide and establish in writing what you are and are not willing to offer your loved one. Nourishing food, in-kind help such as assistance in applying for public benefits such as insurance, food stamps are examples of ways to support. Avoid the impulse to rescue to stop your loved one from experiencing consequences.
- Be aware that there is no cookbook approach. You are on a journey of self-discovery as well. Through participation in your own recovery program, you will gain insights into how you can be healthy in the presence of addiction.
- Understand that re-occurrence of the addictive behavior is integral to recovery. Learning occurs through the consequences of relapse. Emotionally and physically separate yourself while maintaining compassion. Replace fear with spiritual faith, prayer, and conviction that your loved one can survive and thrive. Avoid the downward spiral of negative thinking, projection, shaming, and blaming.
- Be informed that families can survive and thrive. And remember: addiction is a family disease. The chances of recovery are higher when some or all family members are active in a recovery program not only for the person with the addiction but with loved ones – parents and siblings as well.
Suggested Resources:
- Nar-anon.org
- Al-Anon.org
- SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) National Hotline
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (Easy to Read Drug Facts)
- Heroin.net
- New Opiate Addiction and Treatment Portal from National Library of Medicine
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