It’s normal for parents, spouses, and siblings to want to help those they care about. When family and friends try to “help” those who are addicted to drugs, they are frequently enabling them. Enabling can be exceedingly dangerous, both for the drug user and for their loved ones because enabling inhibits users from seeking professional help.
Some signs that you might be engaging in enabling include:
- Avoiding the Problem
Avoidance is a common way of dealing with a situation. The issue is that, while avoidance may provide a short-term, temporary remedy, it can exacerbate the problem in the long run.
- Ignoring Negative or Dangerous Behavior
As potentially dangerous actions are overlooked in the misguided hope that the addict would soon see their error of judgment and seek substance abuse treatment on their initiative. Enablers passively condone these actions by ignoring the problem, making intervention even more difficult.
- Difficulty Expressing Emotions
Enablers frequently feel as if their emotions are invalid compared to individuals who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.
- Covering Up Their Behavior
To keep the peace and create a controlled, tranquil façade, an enabler will lie. Enablers are drawn into the role of shielding addicts from the negative effects of their behavior.
- Prioritizing An Addict’s Needs
Enablers frequently put an addict’s demands ahead of their own in a futile attempt to display their love and connection to the addict as they grow more distant. One way is to give them money to support their habit.
New Hope Drug & Alcohol Treatment Program, Inc. is a recognized drug treatment center in California that will teach you how to help an addict without enabling their substance abuse.
If you know someone who could benefit from our recovery program in Los Angeles, California, refer them now!
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