HOW TO HELP A CHILD WITH DRUG ADDICTION?

Parenting children suffering from substance abuse is a challenging task. As a matter of fact, if any of your family members or friends are suffering from drug addiction, it is bound to take a toll on you. You may feel like you are on a constant emotional rollercoaster ride, with plenty of ups and downs. When you love an addict, you will start feeling hopeless as the situation worsens and might even end up blaming yourself. The family or friends enter a state of depression and hopelessness. The number of young adults who suffer from drug addiction has increased significantly. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported that approximately 1 out of every 4 18-20-year-old young adult suffered through any kind of substance abuse in the past month.

The development process of the child starts as soon as the baby is conceived. Parents recognize the great deal of responsibility that comes alongside bringing a child into this world. Some choices made during the pregnancy state is most likely to have a strong impact on the child’s physiology and mental health. Consuming alcohol, using different drugs and strong medications and consuming unwholesome food are all contributors in an unborn child’s future health. However, some personality characteristics and physiological potentials are fixed, from the time of conception, regardless of the pre and post-birth parenting choices.

When a person suffers through substance abuse, you are more likely to feel that you have lost your most beloved person to drugs and they are no longer the person they used to be. Its even more difficult when the drug addict is your own child. Apart from sending the child to substance abuse center and getting a drug detox, it is imperative to help your child with the mental detoxification process. Your attitude and your behavior will play a huge part in helping your child get rid of the drug abuse. As parents we only want to protect our child, assist them in making the correct choices, keep them safe and help them nurture a fruitful life, but how do you do that when they are addicts?

You should be well-versed with the coping mechanisms and must be able to set clear boundaries to help your addicted child to stay focused. When your child was little, you could use different scolding techniques to discipline the child. As an adult, on the contrary, your child won’t be your legal responsibility but you may feel that your social and emotional responsibility for your child has increased. Everyone’s personal measure of ‘being responsible and a good child’ varies and that shall determine your personal level of anger and shame. Some parents stick to hot anger and say things like, ‘You weren’t raised this way’. Some parents might find it hard to finance the drug rehab center, the child’s increased everyday expenses, etc. Some parents are very shameful of their child’s behavior and mistakes and often shame the child as well.

If your child is one of the many suffering through drug addiction, it is justified to feel sad, low and demotivated. But before sending off the child to a drug rehab, it is imperative to know what you can do to help your child fight back drug addiction.

BREAKING THE BUBBLE

It is the ultimate truth that when your child grows and reach an age when he/she is no longer dependent on you, they have all the power to take decisions on their own. An addict isn’t born an addict, the social gatherings and mental illness can prove to be the main reason why young adults opt for drugs for their calmness.

While you can counsel your child and help him/her get through the process emotionally, physically and financially, you cannot force your child who is no longer dependent on you.

HOW CAN YOU HELP A CHILD WITH DRUG ADDICTION?

For parents, it begins with learning the coping skills to be able to help their child come out of drug addiction. The following are few of the tips you can keep in mind to help your child fight the vicious drug addiction.

• Don’t hold back confronting your child because of the fear that your child will overreact and might binge on the drug after being rebellious. Dealing with a drug addict can be a challenging as well as unpredictable task but fostering friendly and good communication and confronting the child directly about drug use can prove to be helpful. Focus on listening to the child, ask questions and counsel the child about the detrimental effects of the drug usage.
• Someone with drug addiction will look for ways to get more of their drugs, thereby, damaging the relationship they shared with you. You can combat this by strengthening the relationship. The key is to foster open and good communication. Friendly communication can help you gauge the problem early and take corrective measures.
• Foster positivity. Whether your child is a teen or an adult, if you judge them or shame them, they will most likely start hiding things from you and hamper your relationship with them. As a parent, you can present the concept of addiction treatment backed with positive facts.
• Stay consistent in your boundaries and expectations. This way your child will know of the things you won’t tolerate at all. You need to stick with your words, no matter how hard the situation is. It is also important to set boundaries and clearly stated consequences if those boundaries are crossed. Strict love is usually one of the best ways to deal with a drug addicted child.
• Eliminate your own enabling attitude. Enabling means bearing consequences of your child’s actions or taking the entire blame. This way you are not helping your child but making him/her let go off circumstances easily and tends to only alleviate their addiction.

Stop fighting the battle alone, let www.affinityrecover.com help you and your child come out of this situation head-high and end the vicious substance abuse addiction.