Convincing a Loved One to Seek Help

Watching a loved one suffer through an addiction can be an emotional experience. While you may offer your advice or assistance whenever possible, a person cannot stop their addiction until he or she is ready to do so. The good news is that there are steps that you can take to coax someone to get help for an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

The first step may be to hold an intervention. What this does is let the person know that addiction is causing a problem for several people and not just to himself. Interventions can be conducted by family members or can be run by those who have gone through their struggles with addiction in the past.

After an intervention, you can talk to your friend or family member about specific rehab programs that are available. It may be possible to go straight from an intervention to a rehab facility for those who are ready to go immediately. The goal when you take this step, however, is to give the individual with an addiction a choice that can be acted upon when he or she is ready.

In some cases, it may be necessary to show an addict what he or she may lose by refusing to change. For instance, a parent may lose custody of his or her kids because of drug use or alcoholism. That may provide the incentive necessary for an addict to seek help sooner rather than later.