Support For The Family
Addiction affects not only the person with the substance use disorder, but everyone around them as well. Dr. Ashish Bhatt, MD discusses the pervasive nature of addiction, and what those closest to someone who is using can do to help.
Transcript
Dr. Bhatt: Hi, this is Dr. Bhatt with AddictionCenter.com. I want to take a moment to talk about how addiction affects family members, those who suffer with substance use disorders, and how it impacts the entire constellation. Many times, we get questioned on what do we do, when we have somebody- a loved one, or even ourselves and how it impacts our loved one and how it impacts our friends and the people around us that care about us.
Addiction is a pervasive disease. It not only affects those who are suffering and using the substance, but parents, children, and friends- they’re all affected by this. Addiction comes with a lot of stigma. There’s a lot of judgment. A lot of times those who are caring for those who are using substances judge them. They get resentful and angry, and many of times they start to get sick themselves, psychologically and physically. It’s a difficult task to deal with somebody who’s suffering with any sort of illness, including addiction.
An important part of healing for a family member of somebody suffering from an addiction is to also get help themselves. Family therapy is an option, as well as support groups to help ensure that you’re healing yourself. You’re getting rid of that anger, getting rid of that resentment and understanding what the other person is going through in order to help them heal and help them achieve recovery.