Rehab - Before, During, After: A Guide for Family Members

Author: Marc Samuels

Addictions can change the lives of an entire family, and understanding the rehab process is key to helping the addict in your life get, and stay, clean.

It's never easy to watch your drug-addicted family member go through life. Addiction is a disease, and unless you're someone who has dealt with this situation in your own life, it can be next to impossible to imagine how the other person is feeling, or why they're making such poor decisions. Even though you can't change their decision making process, though, you can be the driving force behind an addict's move toward recovery and their ability to stay clean and sober.

Getting Into Rehab
You may want to instantly dump your loved one into a long term drug rehab center the minute that you realize that they're addicted to drugs, but it unfortunately doesn't work that way. Studies have shown that the only way that addicts get clean is if they're ready to get clean, and if you make them get clean they're much more likely to relapse and to use again. If you're trying to get your loved one into rehab, you need to be supportive. Naturally, this doesn't mean you should support the habit itself, but it does mean that you should tell them, repeatedly, how much you love them and how much it's hurting you to watch them go through what they're going through.

If you're having no luck getting your loved one into a cocaine rehab center or another facility, and you feel that they're getting worse, you may want to get some professional help. There are a number of intervention specialists who are amazingly helpful in getting an addict to realize what they're doing to themselves, and to their family, and that they want to get help. The process can be painful, for both you and the addict, so make sure that you're really going to stick with everything that you and the interventionist come up with.

During Recovery
During the addict's time in recovery, whether they're in a short term cocaine rehab center or a long term drug rehab center, make sure that you follow with all of the rules set forth by the center. Visit when you're allowed to, and don't get too upset if the center says that you can't visit for a certain amount of time – this is likely for the benefit of the patient. Never try to smuggle them in anything, even if it seems harmless, and always tell them how proud of them you are and how much you care for them.

After Treatment
Once they're ready to leave the drug rehab center, they'll be sober, but it's much easier to stay sober in a rehab center than it is in the real world. Tell them that you're there for them, and offer to do some things together. Don't hover too much, but make it clear that your door is always open and that your phone is always on. Anything that you can do to support an addict who is in recovery is going to be very important to keeping them in recovery. The struggle may be a frustrating one, but the payoff, having a clean and sober family member, is more than worth it.

Article Source: articlesbase.com

About the Author
Marc Samuels works with addicts and their families on a daily basis to help put them on the path to a healthier lifestyle by finding the cocaine rehab center options and long term drug rehab facilities.