Supporting Your Loved One with a Substance Use Disorder During the Holiday Season

During the holidays, families come together to share meals and make new memories that can last a lifetime. However, for those with a substance use disorder (SUD), this can be both a blessing and a challenge. Supporting a loved one with SUDs may mean changing up the routine to help everyone feel included. Individuals with SUDs will do their best to meet holiday traditions, but friends and family can do their part to be accommodating as well.

Why the Holidays Sometimes Trigger Substance Use Disorders

Between shopping, planning, and traveling, there is typically a lot going on during this time of year. For those with SUDs, walking past the wine rack might be even more difficult than usual. However, by focusing on healthy coping mechanisms, your loved one with substance abuse disorders can get through the holidays with their sanity and sobriety intact. Stress is amplified by reminders of loneliness, family conflict, and financial trouble for those with addiction.

How to Support a Loved One with SUDs During the Holidays

You can help your loved one with SUD stay true to their recovery during the holidays and beyond. Here are some simple tips for doing that.

Don’t Build Parties Around Alcohol

Put the alcohol away, or better yet, don’t buy it at all if you have a loved one with SUD. Watching others drink makes family gatherings and social events awkward and difficult for those with SUDs. Even if they have been in recovery for a long time, they can stumble and relapse during or after a holiday party with alcohol or illicit substances.

Tune into Behaviors

If you attend a holiday event with a friend who has SUDs, keep an eye on them to determine whether they feel comfortable or overwhelmed. You can do this without policing them. Support them with your presence and hold off on grabbing an alcoholic beverage to celebrate the holidays. Most importantly, don’t challenge or put them on the defensive, which may trigger anxiety or relapse.

Suggest an Early Evening

Before leaving for the event, discuss an early exit strategy. As parties drag on, inhibitions may wear down, and your loved one may feel the pressure of their SUD more. Attending for an hour or so and then leaving can alleviate the pressure to stay sober while everyone else is having a drink for the holidays. Prepare to serve as the designated driver. If all goes well, you and your loved one will both be in great condition to drive home. However, it’s better to cover your bases.

Plan Productive and Sober Activities

Healthy activities promote physical and mental well-being — gift your loved one with yoga classes or a gym membership. Skiing and hiking make great holiday activities that boost your endorphins without triggering a relapse in those with SUDs. In any case, staying active is one of the best ways you can support your loved one in recovery.

Help Is Always Available for Substance Use Disorders

When it comes to supporting your loved one with a SUD, keep it simple and don’t forget to enjoy the holidays yourself. By staying relaxed and showing you care, you already provide more support than you know. Keep your loved ones plugged into Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), which often sponsor special events during the holidays. If necessary, recommend family therapy focused on dealing with substance use disorders during the holidays.

Education and awareness can prevent triggering events and help everyone enjoy the most beautiful time of the year. Additionally, reaching out your hand to a loved one with SUD reminds them that they are not alone. That may be the best gift you can give them this year. If someone you love is exhibiting the signs of a substance abuse disorder, it’s time to reach out for help. Using the Addiction Treatment Needs Assessment on the Treatment Connection website, you can determine what type of treatment you or your loved one most likely needs.

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG POST DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material (collectively, “Information”) contained on this blog post are for informational purposes only. None of the Information is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog post.

5 Ways to Prevent Substance Misuse

Every year, millions of Americans struggle with the disease of addiction. Fortunately, addiction is highly treatable. However, it can be daunting to know where to look for support. Treatment Connection makes it easier for individuals to find the substance use disorder treatment they or their loved ones need. Substance use disorder can be addressed by finding the right program.

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs

For many, substance use disorder (misusing drugs or alcohol) springs from an underlying mental health issue or stress, called a co-occurring disorder. Co-occurring disorders are best treated through dual diagnosis treatment. This kind of treatment identifies what sort of mental health issues an individual may be struggling with, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Often, these underlying issues cause intense distress prompting individuals to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. However, self-medicating only masks the underlying problem, allowing it to worsen while also significantly increasing addiction risk. In dual diagnosis treatment, both substance use disorder and mental health issues are treated simultaneously, giving patients the best chance to minimize relapse and recover.

Also, individuals have found themselves addicted through no fault of their own. This is especially true of individuals who are dealing with prescription drug addiction. For example, opioids are regularly prescribed to manage pain. While they are very effective, their potency often causes individuals to develop an inadvertent addiction even if they follow their doctor’s instructions. Medication-assisted treatment or MAT is a substance use disorder treatment program where withdrawal symptoms and cravings are managed through tightly administered medications combined with therapy.

No matter the cause or type of substance use disorder, treatment is available. At Treatment Connection, we give you the tools to find the best program to address the behavioral health issue impacting your life.

Five Addiction Prevention Tips

When someone misuses drugs or alcohol, they may not develop an addiction. However, substance misuse does increase the risk of dependency and having a substance use disorder. There are some simple ways to guard against addiction. Some general addiction prevention tips include:

  1. Mental Health: Many of us exercise and pay attention to our diet because we understand the importance of physical health. However, an individual’s overall wellbeing involves both a healthy body and a healthy mind. Therefore, being aware of your mental health status is key to preventing substance use disorder. Depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) or even ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) can all lead someone to misuse drugs if they aren’t properly treated.
  2. Environment: A stressful home, work, or school life can lead individuals to use drugs or alcohol to cope. Learning healthy coping mechanisms is important, and part of that is making sure the environment one lives and works in is positive and not triggering.
  3. Education: Being aware of how addiction can develop and how specifically certain drugs like prescription medications can lead to dependency gives individuals the tools they need to identify high-risk actions and situations.
  4. Family history: Individuals with a family history of alcohol use disorder or some other drug misuse are at higher risk of developing a substance use disorder. While genetics doesn’t mean an individual will develop an addiction, it’s vital to be aware of it. The more you know your biological and physical risk factors, the better chance you stand of preventing addiction.
  5. Community support: People are social creatures, and having family, friends, and loved ones to turn to can do a lot to prevent addiction by providing support during times of stress. Being an active part of a community is also a good way to be held accountable for one’s actions.

Treatment Connection

No matter the drug or alcohol addiction you or a loved one is dealing with, substance use disorder treatment is available. The Addiction Treatment Needs Assessment, an easy-to-use online assessment found on the Treatment Connection website, can help individuals better understand their needs and enable them to search for appropriate treatment facilities based on their specific needs. . With the right program, individuals can heal from the disease of addiction and make a lasting recovery.

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG POST DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material (collectively, “Information”) contained on this blog post are for informational purposes only. None of the Information is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog post.

What to Expect in Drug Rehab

If you’re affected by signs of drug addiction, it’s time to seek a diagnosis from a trained professional. Your doctor or an addiction specialist will determine if you fit the criteria for addiction or misuse. If you do, they will also recommend options for appropriate treatment. What should you expect during your time in substance use treatment? The course of care varies somewhat from person to person. However, this general overview will explain the milestones typically experienced in a recovery program to give you or a loved one a sense of what to expect.

What to Expect in Drug Treatment

Help Detoxing From the Source of Your Addiction

A person with substance use disorder may face withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop using drugs. As you enter a treatment program, you may face physical symptoms as you halt your drug use. Some opioid-specific recovery programs encourage use of opioid agonist medications to help prevent intense withdrawal symptoms, while others encourage no drugs at all. If you are looking for a treatment program, you may want to consider medication-assisted programs or abstinence-only programs depending on what may work best for you.

If you choose an abstinence-only approach, dealing with withdrawal on your own can be extremely difficult. In drug treatment, you don’t go through withdrawal on your own. Instead, you receive support from supervised detox or detoxification professionals. This supervised approach:

  • Helps make your withdrawal symptoms easier to tolerate
  • Keeps you safe as the stages of withdrawal proceed
  • Provides any needed assistance for withdrawal complications

The exact steps used to meet these goals depend on the specific substance in your system.

Treatment That Supports Long-Term Recovery

Stopping use of substances is just one part of your addiction recovery. However, by itself, it may not be enough to help you stay on the path to recovery. You may need continued support from a drug treatment plan.

This plan has both short- and long-term goals. Your treatment plan will help you avoid relapse in the short term. In the long term, it provides you with the skills and abilities you need to stay in recovery when acute treatment ends.

There are two main options for drug treatment. The first of these options, psychotherapy, plays a part in most recovery plans. The second, medication, may be used to help people affected by certain forms of addiction. When used, medication typically helps support your short-term recovery. Therapy provides longer-term support by showing you how to do things such as:

  • Identify the things in everyday life that make you more likely to return to substance use.
  • Learn how to avoid or cope with those influences while maintaining your recovery
  • Develop new behaviors, emotional responses in the short term, and thoughts that help you stay in recovery

Medication and therapy options differ for specific forms of addiction.

Drug Treatment Help After Primary Treatment

As a rule, you still need professional support when primary drug treatment ends. For this reason, many high-quality programs feature aftercare services. These services help you stay in touch with important professional resources. They may also provide support from recovery peers who have gone through the treatment process.

Turn to Treatment Connection for Top Recovery Providers in Your Area

The quality of the drug treatment you receive has a major impact on your recovery. At Treatment Connection, we provide you with a 24/7 resource for finding the top mental health and substance use treatment facilities in your area. Whenever you want, you can access our pre-screened directory of addiction specialists.

Search for a particular provider or conduct a zip code search. Whichever option you choose, you’ll only see qualified professionals in your search findings. What’s more, all searches are anonymous to help preserve your privacy. To begin the process of recovery, start using Treatment Connection today.

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG POST DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material (collectively, “Information”) contained on this blog post are for informational purposes only. None of the Information is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog post.