You’re deeply worried about a friend with substance abuse issues. It makes you a good friend. Never doubt that you can make a difference. But knowing how to help is a big challenge. You’d like to take them by the hand and lead them to a drug and alcohol rehab center in TX or where they live. But you just don’t know how they will take it.
Figuring out how to help a friend who struggles with substance abuse will depend on many factors, including the strength of your relationship. With the right amount of research and discussion with people who may have been down this road, you can develop a strategy to help your friend with substance abuse. It won’t be easy, but it can be the step that brings change. Santé Center for Healing is here to help.
Spotting Signs of a Problem
The first challenge in helping a friend with substance abuse may well be in assuring yourself that what you think you are seeing is real. People with substance abuse can be secretive and quickly learn ways to cover up their behavior. But there are some telltale signs, including:
- Flushed skin
- Shaky hands
- Picking fights
- Isolating themselves
- Failing to take care of themselves
- Telling lies
- Missing work or school
Unfortunately, there’s no single symptom that closes the case. To best help your friend with substance abuse, look for patterns. If they exhibit several of these signs, you are right in your concern and should help them seek substance abuse treatment.
Should I Even Get Involved?
The chances are good that in considering how to help your friend with substance abuse, you may be asking yourself whether it’s right even to get involved. It’s not an easy question to answer, and you do, at least for the moment, risk causing friction in your friendship.
But it may be that your loving inquiry may be exactly what your friend needs. Substance abuse is lonely and isolating. Your expression of concern may open conversations that help your friend chart a way forward.
You may well get pushback. Your friend may be fearful of the consequences of admitting a problem. They may simply feel embarrassed about it. They may well simply not be ready to change.
That’s okay. Things rarely turn around in a single conversation. The important point to remember is you’ve opened a dialogue. With loving concern and a grasp on the facts, you can help even if it takes numerous conversations.
Ways to Help a Friend with Substance Abuse
Focus on building trust and show compassion. Avoid judgmental language. Don’t criticize and don’t nag. This should be on their time frame.
Helping a friend with substance can be about things you shouldn’t do as well. Don’t shield your friend from the consequences, say, by making up an excuse why he or she missed work.
Be ready to put distance between you and your friend. If he or she reacts negatively and shows themselves unwilling to change their behaviors, it may be best to suspend the friendship. Only when people realize what they have lost can they begin to heal.
In the event that your friend does wish to engage, have the facts handy. Know the alcohol rehab center program options. Stand by their side as they move down this uncertain path.
Getting Help at Santé Center for Healing
Watching a cherished friend with substance abuse struggle with its impact is among the most difficult things anyone can experience. You can’t solve their problems. But you can be instrumental in the solution by recommending treatment and rehab facilities such as Santé Center for Healing, where we provide accredited addiction treatment in TX. Our addiction therapy services extend from individualized assessments, detox, residential treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, and transitional living to therapeutic intensives, a Boundaries Course, and alumni support services.
Santé, the French word for health, offers a comfortable, quiet, and confidential facility to get the help you need. Our experienced team will develop a robust treatment plan that addresses your exact concerns. Give Santé Center for Healing a call at 866.238.3154 for an initial consultation.
