Addiction is a terrifying problem for parents to confront. Amidst feelings of fear and grief, mothers and fathers must understand the causes of the disease and how to confront them. If you are concerned about your child’s addiction, take the following steps to educate yourself.
Call Our Toll-free Helpline
To educate yourself about your child’s drug or alcohol dependence, call gov 24 hour, toll-free helpline. The government admissions coordinators are standing right now with the following free services:
- Confidential answers to all of your questions
- Access to family counselors and interventionists
- Advice for talking to your child
Attend Special Support Groups for Parents
Support groups like Al Anon are incredible resources for the parents of drug addicts. Regardless of your child’s age, support groups allow you to connect with other parents who can teach you about the disease and the dangers of enabling behavior. You are not in this struggle alone.
Counseling for You and Your Family Can Be Helpful
Specialized individual and family counseling can discuss the following topics with an addict’s loved ones:
- The nature of addiction
- Problematic family patterns that must change
- What issues trigger how you and your child react
- The way rehab works
In many ways, counseling is very much like coaching—a counselor will help you develop a new perspective on your child and her struggles.
One of the first ways people try to learn about addiction is by searching the Internet, but the web is filled with dubious information from sources that simply want to sell you something. In response, do online research carefully, and call a physician when you are ready to take the next step. Understanding your child’s addiction is a critical step in his recovery.