Alcohol Addiction Family Support

How Addiction Affects The Family

Family and friends therapy is very often seen as an important tool used in an intervention which can help in maintaining a change. In many cases, relationship difficulties can be a contributing factor in excessive alcohol use, but alcohol misuse may also greatly contribute to deterioration in personal relationships. Friends and family often play a critical role in helping to motivate addicts to stay on track and complete their treatment programmes.

It is worth stressing that it is completely normal to feel very anxious and panicked when the reality of addiction in a loved one becomes apparent. It is also very hard to know how to approach these people in a supportive and loving way, especially when they seem very intent on pursuing incredibly self-destructive, and often outwardly destructive behaviour.

Addiction therapy very often focuses heavily on the addict but it is likely that their addiction will have profound effects on the people closest to them. Family members and friends can find it difficult to stand by an addict when they are seemingly not receiving the same love and support back from the person as they are giving them. Addiction is not something which can be cured easily and many addicts refuse to admit that they have a problem. The problematic issue when family and friends begin to pull away from the addict is that in abandoning them it can negatively affect their chance of getting clean.

Oftentimes, and in many situations, communication might have begun to break down, so when an addict decides to take action and seek help, they may find that reaching out to family and friends might seem impossible. It is, in fact, more important than ever that family or friends intervene immediately at this stage.

Your ongoing support for your loved one is incredibly important, and you can actively become involved with their recovery process:

• Encouraging them in seeking professional help with alcohol addiction counselling.

• Becoming more educated in relation to addiction and involving other family members or friends in this.

• Start creating a stable and sober home environment.

• Attending your own therapy sessions to learn how to cope with an addict and to set realistic boundaries with them.

• Address any personal behaviours that could be contributing to your loved one’s addiction.

Some activities you can take part in are:

• Take a look at our articles on-site to help you identify the signs and symptoms of excessive alcohol use.

• Observing the person’s behaviour closely over a period of days or weeks to understand what leads you to think they may have a problem.

• Note any changes or strange behaviours the person may be exhibiting and share these with other family members and friends to help determine how they see the situation. Sometimes it is easier for those outside the immediate home or social group to notice red flag behaviours.

• Get in contact with an alcohol abuse professional. Describe the person’s alcohol use pattern to see whether they would deem it an issue. Remember to provide details such as the alcohol in question, how much and how often they are using. It is important to give them an estimate of how long the abuse has gone on, any negative repercussions that have arisen from it and the person’s responses to any discussion or challenge they have received about their alcohol misuse.

• Trying to persuade your loved one to seek help or follow a detox programme.

Why choose our services?

• We offer free advice on how you can best help your loved one.

• We can provide immediate admissions to one of our clinics or at home alcohol detox programmes.

• Family therapy and counselling can be arranged rapidly to help you with providing support to your loved one.

Typically, addicts are much more equipped to work on recovery if their excessive alcohol use problem is detected and faced early on. Any friend or family member can make a referral for a loved one to our services, all you need is their consent to do so. We can help you sort out the rest with a phone call. We offer immediate at-home detox programmes.

If you feel a friend or loved has an addiction problem you can contact us for advice at any time. Our trained counsellors will be able to help you recognise and understand the nature of their excessive alcohol use problem and promote strategies of how you could cope.