Recent attention paid to the opioid epidemic has increased awareness about opioid addiction. Many opioid addiction treatment programs focus on the underlying causes of opioid use disorders in order to better prevent opioid abuse. Simultaneously, public health policies have been developed to limit the accessibility of powerful prescription opioids to most patients in an effort to curb addiction. If you know someone struggling with an opioid addiction, then it’s important to find a drug treatment program that addresses the reasons why drug users turn to opioids in the first place.
With all the news stories and information out there about how potent and addictive opioids can be, learning that your loved one is addicted to opioids can be alarming. Sometimes, it’s hard to comprehend how a drug that is legally prescribed for pain relief can be abused or become addictive. This is why it’s important to understand the root causes of opioid addiction. Opioid addiction interventions can be an essential tool for breaking the cycle of addiction and connecting the opioid addict with evidence-based interventions and treatment.
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When staging an opioid addiction intervention, the opioid user’s family and friends, along with a trained interventionist, confront the person about their drug use. It’s important to approach an intervention with empathy and understanding for the drug user. Remember that the purpose of an intervention is to create an opportunity for open and honest dialog about how opioid use disorder affects the drug user as well as their friends and family members.
The goal of an intervention is for the opioid user to seek and accept treatment for their addiction. The sooner the opioid user can recognize that their addiction has severe consequences, the better the outcomes may be for both the user and their loved ones.
While an opioid abuse intervention can be successful, you must also prepare yourself for the reality that it may not work. The user may not see that their addiction is a problem and they may refuse to accept any help. While it may be painful, you must stand your ground and set boundaries to assert that their addiction is a problem and that you will no longer enable or excuse the drug addict’s behavior.
Planning an intervention can also be a stressful and time-consuming process. Before you stage an intervention, make sure to read up on what’s involved. Consider finding a treatment center in advance in case your loved one is ready to pursue treatment right away. Reach out to friends and family members and see if they would be willing to participate and offer their support to the opioid addict during the drug intervention process.
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For the person struggling with an opioid addiction problem, now is probably the right time for an intervention. Because they are legally prescribed to treat pain, it is easy for someone to start abusing opioids under the assumption that it’s okay because a doctor prescribed the pills. Opioid users may soon find that opioids help with untreated physical pain and may quickly become addicted. Mental illness and drug use are often co-occurring and can exacerbate one another if both conditions aren’t diagnosed and treated at the same time. The covid 19 pandemic has also had detrimental effects on both mental and physical health, leading more people to abuse opioids. Effective interventions combined with behavioral health treatments can improve treatment outcomes for opioid users.
It is unlikely that someone will recover from opioid addiction without treating the root causes of their addiction to prescription opioids, at least when it comes to staying sober in the long term. You might find it helpful to consult with health care providers, addiction professionals, and other community groups for additional guidance and information on whether an intervention is necessary.
Research has shown that the sooner the intervention takes place, the more effective it can be. If you know your loved one is abusing opioids, then it’s never too early to plan a drug intervention. Unfortunately, for many families, it is too late.
The opioid epidemic has brought widespread attention to opioid misuse and drug overdose deaths at large. If an opioid addict is obtaining opioids illegally, it’s very possible that they will encounter fentanyl, an extremely dangerous synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than other opioids. Fentanyl puts your loved one at an even greater risk of overdose. In 2019 alone, over 70,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses. Sadly, for those people and their families, a drug abuse intervention is no longer needed. However, prevention programs and effective interventions can reduce opioid overdose deaths. Now is the best time to plan an opioid abuse intervention for your loved one struggling with substance use disorder.
A proper intervention for drug abuse will give your loved one the ray of hope they need to chart a course for a brighter, healthier, sober future.
Call Addiction Interventions today for a free consultation with a professional interventionist and to start the process of planning a drug use intervention for your loved one.