Going it alone in detox and addiction treatment is not the best course of action. While the individualistic push of modern culture might encourage one to try and push through on one’s own willpower, pushing aside help to try and get it done in isolation, this is, in actuality, much more likely to end in failure and relapse for the hapless addict. No, addiction treatment is best treated as a group effort, with the addict getting help from not only a team of professionals in a rehab program, but also friends and family at home. Family support during detox can be a true difference maker if the addict can be shown how loved ones can help make it a success.
For many people, family is the last line of defense.
There are, of course, those that don’t get along with their biological family, but a lot of people see family as a group that will always be there for them, through thick and thin, and rely on them in times of trouble.
Yet, at the same time, the same people can sometimes resist relying on family, perhaps because they don’t wish to hurt them with their personal problems or admit their failure to the people they love the most. It’s a nasty Catch-22: the people you can most rely on are the same people you don’t wish to rely on, for one reason or another.
But your loved ones can be a great help during the early days of rehab and recovery. Even if you’re in a clinical setting, isolated during detox or treatment to help prevent relapse during the critical early stages of recovery, just having their moral support, hearing from them via phone or mail or message, can be a morale booster when you need it most.
And they can help in other ways, too, as your treatment progresses, from taking on the role of holding you accountable as you move into recovery to providing you with resources when you need them most.
There is, of course, a difference between helping and enabling. Giving an addict money or support they will then use to further their addiction is far from helpful. But it’s often friends and family who first push an addict into treatment through a stage intervention, and they will be there to continue to help afterwards, too.
At Good Landing Recovery, the role loved ones can play in recovery is emphasized and family is encouraged to reach out and help in ways that reinforce treatment goals without falling into enabling behaviors.
It doesn’t have to be blood relatives, even. Some people tend to emphasize “found family” these days, embracing their closest friends as a chosen family, and that can be just as helpful when push comes to shove.
Addiction recovery is a path no one should tread alone and those with family, whether those you were born with or chose, don’t have to when the time comes. Family support during detox and rehab is vital when loved ones can help the addict walk that path successfully.