How to Convince Your Loved One to Go to a Drug Treatment Clinic

Talking to a loved one about getting help for their addiction issue can be difficult. This is how to convince someone to go to a drug treatment clinic.

Nearly ten million Americans over the age of 18 have a substance use disorder and around 50% of the population over 12 have used illicit drugs at least once.

If you’ve got a loved one who suffers from an addiction, whether it’s a child, friend, or relative, getting them help should be the main priority. Unfortunately, convincing an addict that they need to enter a drug treatment clinic isn’t the easiest or simplest conversation to have.

In addition to the physical aspects of addiction, it’s equal parts mental. The idea of entering rehab is daunting for most addicts, so you’ll need to go about it the right way. Today, we’ll help you do that by giving you some advice for getting your loved one to go into a treatment facility.

Drug and alcohol rehab isn’t guaranteed to work, but it’s the best chance your loved one has of recovering from their illness. Keep reading and learn how to make them see this as well.

Educate Yourself on Addiction

When you realize that your loved one has an addiction, emotions can run wild. There’ll be a part of you that wants to get them help as soon as possible to put an immediate stop to their drug use. While this sentiment is legitimate, you need to first educate yourself on addiction.

Every day that your loved one continues to use drugs or alcohol puts them further at risk of serious illness, or worse. If you’re going to convince them to enter treatment, however, you need to learn what it means to be addicted to substances.

There’s plenty of information online about the dangers of drug addiction, but you can talk to addiction specialists as well. It’s important to understand the mental side of addiction if you’re going to take a compassionate approach to the intervention.

Your loved one may not be receptive to the idea of getting treatment. If you’ve done your research, you can be prepared to steer the conversation in the right direction.

Educate Yourself on Rehab

Assuming that your loved one has never been to rehab before, they’ll be overwhelmed by the prospect of going. Take the time to learn everything you can about the various aspects of treatment so you can be there to answer any questions they may have.

Learn the difference between inpatient and outpatient rehab. Inpatient rehab is a more intensive treatment option that’ll have your loved one living in a facility while they complete their program. Outpatient rehab offers many of the same treatments, but patients live their normal lives.

When your loved one enters rehab, they’ll start by completing a detox program. This is often the scariest and most difficult part of treatment because it involves coming off of the substances that the body has grown accustomed to.

For that reason, detox comes with many adverse symptoms that will be difficult to deal with. They include anxiety, depression, sweating, fatigue, nausea, irritability, and even seizures. To curtail withdrawal symptoms, the patient may be given medication.

Therapy is the other main component of drug treatment. Any good facility offers different types of therapy, both one-on-one with therapists and in groups.

Depending on the type and severity of the addiction, your loved one could be in rehab for anywhere between a couple of weeks to a few months.

Plan an Intervention

Once you’re educated on addiction and rehab, you can start planning an intervention. The goal of any intervention, other than convincing your loved one to enter rehab, is to explain the effect their addiction has had on friends and family.

There are right and wrong ways to go about an intervention. The right way to do it is to stay calm and make sure everyone approaches your loved one with compassion.

An intervention should always try to avoid a confrontational atmosphere. It won’t always result in an immediate change of heart on the part of your loved one, but a seed could be planted.

So, you’ll need to gather a few of the people who are closest to them. Each person will have an opportunity to speak to your loved one to show them different perspectives on substance abuse.

One great way to maintain a level of professionalism is to involve an intervention specialist. These people have the conversation skills and knowledge to mediate and direct the conversation toward a resolution.

Stay Positive, But Firm

Even when everyone speaks compassionately from the heart, there’s always the risk of an adverse reaction. If this happens, everyone needs to try and maintain a level of positivity. Going on the attack won’t help convince them to enter treatment.

That being said, you may need to incentivize them to make this important change. One way to do that is to present a few consequences of continuing to use drugs. These consequences may involve not allowing them to see children or being cut off from social gatherings.

At the end of the day, an intervention presents your loved one with an opportunity. If they choose not to seize it, you need to stay firm on the consequences because it could cause a change of heart later on.

Don’t Give Up

Don’t give up if your loved one refuses to enter inpatient or outpatient rehab. Researching addiction gives you some insight into how it all works, but you’ll never truly understand what it means for the addict. Getting off of drugs isn’t a simple decision.

After the intervention, you can continue to broach the subject with them from time to time. When they know that you’re still there for them, they’ll be more inclined to do what’s right for themselves and their loved ones.

Choose the Best Drug Treatment Clinic

Beating addiction isn’t something that happens overnight. It may take months or even years of convincing to get your loved one to think about entering a drug treatment clinic. When it’s a reputable clinic, however, the decision becomes much easier.

If you have a loved one dealing with addiction issues in Central California, Visalia Recovery Resources can help. We have aimed to provide ethical and effective drug addiction treatment in our Visalia facility. To learn more about our treatment options, don’t hesitate to contact us today.