Drug addiction is a serious condition that can significantly change the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves. Watching a loved one struggle with this disease can be extremely difficult. As their behavior becomes more and more erratic, you may become increasingly worried and scared for their safety.
Seeing your loved one struggle with addiction can leave you feeling hopeless, wondering how you can even help them. While you cannot solve their substance abuse issues, there are ways that you can give them a push in the right direction. The best way to help your addicted loved one is to set up a drug and alcohol intervention.
An intervention is an organized attempt to confront someone with addiction about how their substance abuse has affected the people around them. The goal is to convince the individual that they do have a problem that must be addressed by a professional treatment program.
Knowing when it’s time to stage an intervention for an addicted loved one can be difficult, but there are certain signs you can look for.
7 Signs That it’s Time for an Intervention
A drug and alcohol intervention is a delicate process that must be carefully thought out and planned. You don’t want to stage an intervention when the time is not right, but how can you tell when your loved one truly needs one?
Here are 7 signs that indicate it’s time for an intervention.
1. They Have Isolated Themselves Socially
Has your loved one stopped hanging out with their old friends? Do you feel like you never see them anymore? If so, they are probably isolating themselves from you and their friends due to their substance abuse.
Social isolation is one of the first signs of a substance use disorder. As an individual becomes more preoccupied with drugs or alcohol, they start to lose interest in interacting with their loved ones. Your loved one may also isolate themselves to hide their drug use from the people they care about.
Isolation is harmful–both mentally and physically. Not only can it lead to depression, but using drugs alone can be dangerous and increase the risk of fatal overdose.
2. Personal Hygiene is Not a Priority
Once someone’s addiction becomes severe, they will start neglecting their personal hygiene. If you notice that your loved one looks disheveled or unclean, it might be due to their substance abuse.
As addiction progresses, drugs and alcohol become a person’s number one priority. Between finding drugs, using drugs, and recovering from the use of substances, sometimes people feel as if they don’t have any other time to take care of themselves. This is one of many signs that it is time to stage an intervention.
3. They Suffer From Extreme Mood Changes
Drugs and alcohol can cause people to behave in ways they don’t when they are sober. Have you and your loved one started to get into nasty fights? Are they in a good mood one minute and then yelling or screaming the next?
If you notice that your loved one is constantly experiencing shifting moods, their drug addiction has probably progressed to severe. This means that an intervention may be necessary for their health and safety.
4. They Experience Withdrawal Symptoms
Have you noticed that your loved one becomes a little bit edgy when they don’t have their drugs? Maybe they become hysterical, screaming and crying because they aren’t able to get high. This is one of the first signs of drug withdrawal, which means that your loved one is definitely addicted to the substances they abuse.
If your loved one is experiencing the symptoms of withdrawal when they cannot use drugs, it’s time for an intervention. Drug withdrawal can become extremely dangerous depending on the substance your loved one abuses, making medical detox a life or death situation.
5. Drugs are Their Number One Priority
Has your loved one stopped completing their daily responsibilities? If they have a child, are they caring for them? Oftentimes, people who suffer from addiction have a hard time completing their responsibilities because drugs have become their number one priority.
If you find that your loved one prioritizes the use of drugs over everything else in their life, they need help. An intervention may be necessary to prevent them from hitting rock bottom.
6. Their Behavior Has Become Erratic
Is your loved one behaving erratically? Are they excessively happy one minute and then extremely angry the next? Does their mood shift from sad, to angry, to apologetic in a matter of minutes, without explanation?
Severe drug abuse can cause erratic behavior. If your loved one is displaying these behaviors, they definitely require professional treatment. Unfortunately, if their behavior is erratic, they may be unwilling to go to rehab, making intervention necessary.
7. They Have Experienced Overdoses
Lastly, your loved one needs an intervention if they have suffered an overdose and refuse to get treatment. Overdoses occur when someone takes too much of a substance, causing their body to shut down, go into a coma, or stop breathing completely. If someone overdoses once and continues to use drugs or alcohol, it’s likely they will overdose again without professional help.
Find Help For Yourself or an Addicted Loved One
If you are planning to stage an intervention for your loved one, you should have a treatment program set up and ready for them to go to immediately after the intervention ends. This prevents your loved one from having too much time to think about it and changing their mind.
Thankfully, programs like Arise Treatment Center can help you set this up. Contact us today for more information on how to get help for your addicted loved one.