Intervention

When someone you care about is in denial about addiction, you may feel afraid, isolated or overwhelmed. It is difficult to watch a loved one struggle with addiction and especially difficult when that loved one also struggles with mental illness or mental health issues. Often, the entire family is affected by the damage caused by addiction.

Why Stage an Intervention?

Addiction and mental illness require treatment in order to improve. Without quality counseling, treatment and assistance, addiction will take over your loved one’s life. While it is a challenge to consider intensive treatment for another person, it is also one of the greatest gifts you can ever provide for your loved one.

When your loved one denies that there is a problem, you may want to consider staging an intervention. An intervention is a loving and highly structured confrontation that is conducted in order to help a person accept life-saving treatment.

Interventions are orchestrated to help the person you care about accept the reality of substance addiction and accept the help being offered. In order to be successful, an intervention must be carefully planned and presented in a loving yet firm manner. A successful intervention is designed to minimize arguments and allow your loved one to feel cared for and supported. Families call us every day to seek help staging an intervention. We are happy to provide intervention support and guidance for anyone who calls. We can suggest helpful reading and planning materials, work with you to develop an intervention plan or help you find a trained and experienced professional interventionist.

When an Intervention Is Appropriate

Addiction is a slippery slope and often begins with limited substance use and small changes in behaviors. In some cases, it can be difficult to determine when more intensive rehab treatment is needed. Many addicted persons have good days and bad days, and you may see the person you love one day and the addict the next day. In some cases, the addicted person may have moments of wellness followed by life-threatening binges. If your loved one is also struggling with a mental health issue, these ups and downs may be more prevalent. The following are some clear signs that it may be time to stage an intervention:

• When your loved one drinks alcohol, uses the addictive substance or engages in addictive behavior, a little is never enough. After one use, it seems like this person cannot stop until he or she is physically ill, injured or unconscious. Family and responsibilities may seem invisible to the person once the addiction takes over.
• Your loved one may admit that there is a problem on occasion and make plans to quit using. He or she may even stop using for small periods of time but eventually relapse. Often, an addicted person will feel great shame about using and may take great strides to hide addictive behavior.
• Although addiction has taken a serious toll on your loved one’s life, he or she keeps using. Job loss, accidents, lost relationships, poor judgment and even arrests don’t seem to stop the addiction.
• You have enabled your loved one. You may feel overwhelmed and accidentally enable the person you care about. Watch out for statements like, “I’d rather have him use in the house, at least I know he is safe.” If you help your loved one by keeping secrets, paying bills or enabling in other ways, it may be time to stage an intervention.
• Your loved one becomes defensive or hostile when the topic of addiction is approached. Anger and denial can keep your loved one from understanding how serious the problem has become.

Intervention Help

If you are considering a family intervention, call our toll-free helpline. We can help you plan every step of the intervention to ensure success. At Foundations Recovery Network, we can help you find treatment placement for the critical 24 hours after the intervention, and we can even help you find highly experienced and reputable interventionists. All calls are confidential, and we are available 24 hours a day. Don’t face addiction alone anymore. Call us, and find out how we can help you.