How Rehabilitation May Be Sabotaged by the Addict

Getting an addict to accept that he or she needs help for their problem can be tough. Many do not want to hear from loved ones that they need professional treatment for an illness they do not think they have. Some will become aggressive or defensive at the mere mention of addiction while others will just avoid getting into any discussion that revolves around drinking or taking drugs.

However, there will come a time when family members can break down the defences of their loved one and may be finally able to get through to him or her. This is generally when the addict is open to the idea of a sober life; this often occurs after behaving badly or while suffering from a bad hangover. During these periods, it may be possible to get a loved one to agree to get help for addiction.

This can seem like a monumental victory for family members; they have finally managed to get their addicted loved one to get help and for them it seems as if life is about to get back on track. If you are in this situation, it is important that your loved one has agreed to get help for the right reasons and not just to get you off his or her back.

Fear of Failure

Your loved one may be reluctant to enter rehab for fear of failing. He or she may not want to get help for addiction and, if they feel as though they have been forced to attend, they may do everything in their power to sabotage their treatment. Below we have listed a few ways in which treatment can be sabotaged by an addict:

1. The addict spends his or her time doing anything other than getting help for the problem. This could be playing video games, texting friends, surfing the web, or watching TV.

2. The addict pretends to pay attention when really he or she is just going through the motions with the counsellor to keep family members happy.

3. The addict is resentful of the fact that he or she is in rehabilitation instead of being with drug-taking or drinking friends and is unwilling to put in any effort.

4. The addict wallows in self-pity and fails to commit to the programme of rehabilitation. He or she blames others for the way life has turned out instead of taking responsibility for their actions.

5. The addict acts as if he or she knows better than the counsellors who have been trained to help them.

6. The addict spends his or her days glamorising the past when they were drinking or taking drugs.

Can You Help an Addict Who Doesn’t Want Help?
It is important that your loved one understands that treatment could save his or her life. You cannot force a loved one to get help for addiction no matter how much you want to. Unless you can get through to them about how rehabilitation is in his or her best interests, you could be fighting a losing battle.

You may want to get a qualified therapist or counsellor to speak to your loved one about the benefits of treatment. Taking him or her to a rehab centre where they can see how the programme works may be the solution. Your loved one must be ready to make a change in order to get the most from treatment.

Be realistic in your expectations and remember that this may not be the right time for your loved one to enter rehab. If you force the issue, you could find that this person is simply biding his or her time until he or she can get back to feeding their addiction.

If you need help in the london area, then please contact us for information on the latest information on places in london rehab clinics as well as greater london drug rehabs, Through our alcohol rehab clinic.

This article originally published at Middlegate Blog here