Drug Interventions, Alcohol Interventions and Substance Abuse Treatment For Addiction
A drug and alcoholism intervention is an attempt by family members and friends to help a chemically dependent person get help for his or her addiction. The purpose of intervention is to help the substance abuser see the physical and mental destruction their addiction creates. Interventions are usually successful and often enable the abuser to move on to successful treatment programs.
As with all addictions, drug and alcohol abusers are usually the last to admit there is a problem and get into a drug rehab. Or, the abuser may realize there is a problem but just cannot seem to seek help. Family, friends and careers also suffer and can be destroyed by the abuser’s addiction. Jay notes, one out of 3 people is living with or related to someone with an alcohol or other drug problem. Intervention is the most effective technique families can use to help a loved one suffering from chemical dependency - alcoholism or other drug addiction. It is also the most ignored. But just as CPR is often the first, life saving step in helping a heart attack victim, intervention is the most powerful step that a family can take to initiate the recovery process.2 By taking action, families and friends can get help for their loved one and help for themselves as they cope. According to Addiction Intervention Resources, 92 percent of those intervened on go to treatment and have the opportunity to change their lives.
Treatment centers and 12-step programs offer counseling, psychotherapy, support
groups, and family therapy.3 These 12-steps consist of:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God
as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends
to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do
so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted
it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact
with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for
us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried
to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all
our affairs.3
In addition, medications can also aid in suppressing withdrawals or cravings
and in blocking the effects of drugs.
In conclusion, intervention can and will save the life of a loved who is addicted to drugs and alcohol. Families and friends must choose to not look the other way but to proactively seek help for themselves and the substance abuser who may be looking for a florida drug rehab.
