How to Help Someone Suffering from Heroin Addiction?
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By: Harmony Staff

Clinically Reviewed by Dr. Deja Gilbert, PhD, LMHC, LPC

Updated on 02/24/2022

Do you know someone who is suffering from heroin addiction? If so, there are numerous things you can do to try helping them get into a treatment program. The guide you read below can help you to better understand what the person is going through and what you can do to best help them turn their life around.

Addiction Education

One of the first and even most important things you can do is to educate yourself about addiction and addictive lifestyles. There are so many resources out there that can allow you to learn about what the person is going through such as:

  • Books
  • Websites
  • Addiction rehab centers
  • Articles
  • Forums
  • Support groups

Each one of these resources will give you the information you need to better understand what is happening to your friend, loved one, co-worker or the other person in your life who has a heroin addiction. .

Once you can better understand what addiction does to a person, it will be easier to help that person get treatment.

Getting Support and Counseling

If you know someone who has an addiction, it is likely driving you a bit mad, sad, confused and so much more. The cycle of feelings from anger to sadness to guilty to feeling lost can be excruciating. You want to help this person, but you don’t know how. This is a normal reaction which is why you need to get support and/or counseling. There are many support groups for family and friends of addicts you could attend. You can also go to individual or group counseling to better understand how to cope with their addiction and what you may need to do to protect yourself while helping them.

Find Specialty Addiction Rehab Centers

If you know someone who has a heroin addiction, they are likely going to need specialty addiction rehab center help, so they can overcome that addiction. What does this mean? Well, it means that your friend or loved one needs help from addiction rehab professionals who are trained in heroin addiction treatments if this is the type of addiction they have. The reason for this is because each drug affects people in various ways. So, for instance, if your loved one or friend has an addiction to heroin that drug is going to affect them in different ways than say Norco or Fentanyl. Having specialty addiction rehab center help is the best way to go for overcoming a specific type of addiction.

Don’t Enable Any Longer

While it can be one of the most difficult things you ever do, it is crucial that you quit enabling your friend or loved one completely. The more or the longer you keep enabling them, the more they are going to hold onto their addiction. However, if you quit enabling them, they are going to see that you won’t support their habit or addiction.

Expect the Best, but Expect Reality

How do you do this? Well, you want your loved one or friend to get into a professional addiction treatment center. You can talk to them about how their addiction is affecting other people. You can let them know that you won’t enable their addiction any longer and you want them to get help. However, you can’t force them to receive the help. Even if they go into a rehab center, you can’t make them accept the way they need to do things from here on out. If they get clean and into recovery and stay that way, that is great. However, it is important to prepare yourself in case they don’t stay active in their recovery.

Be Kind to Yourself

Last, but not least, you must be kind to yourself. Knowing someone who has an addiction is taxing. They may cheat on you, lie to you, steal from you and just generally cause stress and anxiety in your life. However, you may love or care about them and it can be difficult to cut ties with this person, especially if they are family. So, be kind to yourself. Remind yourself that you deserve to take care of yourself and not just care for them.

Get Someone Help Today if They Are Suffering from Heroin Addiction

Do you know someone who has a heroin addiction? If so, the tips above can assist you in helping them to overcome that addiction. Just remember, though, you can’t control their actions. You can only let them know how you are feeling and what you believe they need in order to get help. From there, it is on them. Remember, also, that you must take care of yourself in order to better help the person in your life who has this addiction.

If they are ready to get help, contact us today to get them into a heroin addiction treatment program.

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