How to Help Your Son Recover From Addiction

Discovering your son is an addict is a stressful and emotionally draining experience for any parent. You probably have a lot of emotions running through your mind. Your next line of action may be to have an emotionally charged and spiteful conversation with your adult son. However, you don’t want to approach the issue this way because you may end up making his situation worse.

So, what can you do as a parent?

The first step starts with your mentality and attitude towards the problem. Begin by accepting that your son’s addiction is not your fault. Your son is an adult and sometimes adults make decisions that harm them. Once you adopt this approach, it becomes much easier to address the situation and cope.

Here are 3 other tips to help your adult son struggling with alcohol or drug abuse addiction:

1. Get Educated on Addiction

An important way to battle your son’s addiction is getting educated. You cannot help your child effectively if you do not understand what exactly is happening to him. You should conduct some research on the symptoms, triggers, and behavioral changes your son might be experiencing.

While the internet is a great place to start with some desk research, you might be better off speaking to a professional or expert on drug or alcohol abuse. They can help you with strategies to help you cope both with your son and yourself. They can also be a great resource for support groups close by.

Support groups are important because you not only get educated faster on how to deal with the addiction, but you also get the much needed emotional and mental support from parents who are either dealing with an addiction or have successfully dealt with one.

2. Find an Addiction Recovery Program

Finding a structured recovery program can be a step in the right direction. However, it is wise that you discuss the available treatment options with your son instead of making him feel forced to pick one. Remember, it is his life, and you cannot fix this problem without his active involvement.

It is important to find a program that not only helps your son overcome addiction, but also has a process that ensures he doesn’t relapse. The program also acts as his own support community with various examples of those who have won the battle for recovery to inspire him. These programs also help the whole family, as addiction tends to affect other members in various ways.

Recovery communities like newlifehouse.com are great examples of structured recovery programs that will help your son fight addiction and reach sobriety.

3. Don’t Enable Him

While it’s okay to show your son all the love he needs to get through this difficult period, you want to be sure you’re not enabling his behavior. It is normal for adults who are struggling with addiction to look towards their family members for financial support. They need a way to afford their expensive habit and are likely to reach out to you.

It’s important to ensure that any financial aid you hand out during this period is not used to finance his addiction. Also, speak with other family members he might run too for help to ensure they cooperate. This way, you help cut off the supply and can focus all your energies on getting him to a recovery program.

The Bottom Line

Dealing with a drug or alcohol addict can be a terrible experience for the whole family, but you can get through it by taking the right steps. Always remember that you are never alone on this journey and there are numerous families who have gone through this devastating journey and came out smiling at the end. Keep this thought in mind and start the process of guiding your son to overcome his addiction today.