Until the past 20 years or so, people rarely talked about addiction. When someone could not control their drinking, it was just because they didn’t try hard enough. People shared their prescription drugs under the acceptable label of “diet pills.”
You could easily go to your family doctor and tell him you are stressed out and leave with a prescription of anti-anxiety drugs such as Xanax and Valium.
The introduction of Hydrocodone to doctors, promised to ease the pain that many patients must live with every day, and the best part is they were told Hydrocodone is non-addictive.
The pharmaceutical companies told doctors, if the patient has real pain, the medication will help. If the patient has no real pain, they could become addicted to it due to the effects the drug has on the healthy brain.
In other words, if someone claims that their pain medication has them in the battle of addiction, it is because of their misuse of the medication.
Descending Into The Pit
When the doctor’s realized what was happening, they cut the supply of prescriptions drastically. People who did not know they were addicted, found themselves sick with withdrawal, with nowhere to go.
Pushed by the gut-wrenching results of the cold turkey approach, soccer moms, coaches, and others of us that share middle-class America found themselves using anything they could find to make them feel better.
Soon, good people with families began using Heroine and other illegal drugs, not to get high, but to stay well.
Getting Well & Taking Your Life Back
If there is one thing we have learned through America’s war on drugs, it is to hate addiction but to love the addict. There are many ways a person can find themselves in an addicts prison. But, it is fear that keeps them there.
At this point, it doesn’t matter how they got there. All that matters is finding the right program to help you rescue yourself or your family member. Addiction put them in a dark place, and to begin healing, you must allow the light to shine.
Treatment
There are many types of rehab centers. They all have an agenda and that is to free you from drugs. But people are different and they do not all respond to the same treatment. Do your research. Ask the questions that you are embarrassed to ask.
Honesty
It is important to be open and honest with your loved one. They will want to know how far away they will be. (This is not because they will miss you, but because they don’t know a dealer out of town. They want to know what the detox program consists of.
They may react with anger, crying, or indifference. These are the faces of addiction. The guide will give you all the information you and they will need. Keep your answers brief and if you don’t know, say so.
Remember, you are not speaking to your mother, sister, or daughter. You are speaking to the bottle of alcohol or pain pills that are holding them hostage.
There is help. There are experts who have saved thousands of lives by pulling them out of the jaws of addiction. Work with the professionals. Turn off your heart that shatters when you think of what addiction has done to your family.
Rehab will help you find your missing loved one, and healing is in store for your family. It starts with making the call. Get your guide and fight to get your loved ones back.
