Addiction Help For Struggling Addicts

patrick456 | Aug 18, 2009 |

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Helping the struggling addict or alcoholic is an incredibly tough job. Anyone who has a friend or a loved one who is going through the turmoil of active addiction can certainly testify to this. The problem is generally a resistance to change and a fierce determination to maintain control in their life and try to hold everything together while they continue to self medicate. This state of being is known as denial because the person will not accept the fact that they are slowly self destructing. Many addicts will admit that they are spiraling out of control, but they are not at a point where they can really accept it on a really deep level and take the necessary action to do something about it.

In fact the denial goes much deeper than this because most addicts actually rationalize that they would in fact do something about their problem, but they feel trapped and they cannot see how treatment or recovery could possibly work for them. There are a million excuses that the addict can give in order to dodge the fact that they are actually similar to other addicts and they could, in fact, receive help. For example, they will claim that "my addiction" is different from others because "I have chronic pain issues." I will always have to take painkillers." Or they might argue that they have tried to get addiction help in the past and it has never worked for them and therefore never will. Of course these are all just excuses to avoid taking action and getting some help. And what is it that keeps the drug addict in denial? Fear. It is fear that keeps them from making the tough decision to change their entire life and try something different. It is fear that holds them back from making the ultimate surrender and stating to themselves that they are out of control and do not know how to live anymore. It is fear that keeps them trapped in the endless cycle of self medicating because they believe that they have no where to turn to for help. And so the ultimate question becomes: how do we pierce through this level of fear and convince the addict that there is hope? How can we convince the addict to abandon their need for control and just trust in the process of recovery? How can we persuade them to give recovery a chance? The answer is a journey that is littered with tears, fights, screaming matches, and broken promises. There are no easy answers. It is hard to change, and it is even harder for the addict or alcoholic.