Help for Those Involved in Drug and Alcohol Abuse

How to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Early drug and alcohol abuse education is one of the best methods of prevention. Everyone involved needs to be educated, from parents and educators to children and adults. Each needs to know the risks for altered behavior and addiction associated with use in their life situations. With enough education, hopefully most people will never try drugs and will recognize drug abuse in others in order to facilitate quick admission to drug and alcohol treatment programs.

If you recognize the symptoms of drug and alcohol abuse in someone, it is up to you to be a support system for that individual. Encourage the drug abuser to seek treatment and reassure that you'll be supportive of efforts made to overcome addiction. It is important to educate yourself about how addiction works so that you can be an adequate support system in the fight against drugs and alcohol.

You will need to help that person get into a drug and alcohol treatment program quickly if he shows any willingness to overcome addiction. The earlier intervention is sought, the more easily drug addictions can be overcome. So make use of any resources you have available to find a good drug and alcohol abuse treatment program. Don't forget to check the Internet and your local phone book.

You need to try to elicit a commitment to recovery out of the addicted individual. This will go a long way in sustaining the addict when the going gets tough. Even much later, at the end of counseling such a commitment can remain helpful. Just don't let yourself feel discouraged or betrayed if the addict relapses, as many addicts relapse many times before achieving success. The important thing is the willingness to keep fighting for sobriety.

Most people begin with drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs that involve talking to counselors and attending meetings. When this proves unsuccessful, it may be time to consider an inpatient drug and alcohol abuse treatment program. Inpatient treatment programs have many advantages over other types of treatment.

Most of these advantages center around the ability to control one's exposure to the addictive substance and to control all other aspects of the addict's environment. Of course, aside from a court order, inpatient drug and alcohol abuse treatment is voluntary and requires a firm commitment on the addict's part to stick to the inpatient drug and alcohol abuse treatment program.