Drug Addiction Intervention

The discovery that a loved one is abusing drugs is usually slow and excruciating. There are small signs at first. The person is missing from a few appointments, there’s a little money missing but it’s no big deal. A few of the person’s actions don’t quite make sense but they are explained away. But the explanations don’t quite add up. It can still be shrugged off.

There may be more odd things that happen. A car accident. A lost job. A lost weekend. Missed appointments with children. Perhaps an angry tirade that is out of character.

Maybe the drug or alcohol use is noticed and the subject is talked about. The person promises to quit, says it was just a few times he (or she) didn’t like it anyway.

But the little problems keep appearing. Tempers get worse and there start to be more arguments, more disappearances, more missing money or assets. Maybe the DVD player disappears, or a leather coat or jewelry.

Maybe the boss calls home and talks to the spouse and says I wanted you to know that I fired your spouse because he (or she) was using drugs. You need to get him (or her) help. Then he hangs up.

Maybe with help, the person finds another job but it doesn’t last. People are unfair, suspicious, watching him. There might be another car accident.

The subject of drug use is brought up again but this time there is hostility. Why can’t you support me, she says. I’m trying to quit and I can’t do it if you keep criticizing me. So the spouse backs off.

This can go on for years or it can end. If it goes on, it will get worse, not better. It can end with the loved one – who might be a parent, a sibling, a child or someone who’s been your best friend for decades—losing everything to the addiction.

But it can have a much better ending. In many cases, it takes a drug addiction intervention to change the course of this self-destruction. In times like these, families trying to save a loved one’s life need the help of a competent drug addiction rehabilitation service that can help them set up an intervention and treatment plan that will really work. This is a service that is frequently offered by the staff at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers around the world.

Many Narconon centers have experienced interventionists they work with to help people break free from addiction. When a drug addiction intervention is needed, they know who to send, who can work with the addicted person and draw out that person’s true desire to live clean and sober again.

Oftentimes, family encounters with the addict can be highly emotionally charged because everyone is insistent on rehab and fearful of what will happen if the idea is not accepted. But someone experienced in drug addiction intervention can take a calm role in bringing about the addicted person’s own decision to find sobriety.

If you need help bringing about a desire for treatment in a person who is currently trapped in addiction, contact Narconon for help in finding a center and an experienced interventionist near you.

Additional Resources on Interventions:

Drug Intervention | Alcohol Intervention | Parents Get Help