When Do You Do a Drug or Alcohol Intervention?

By Mike Loverde, Nationally Recognized Drug and Alcohol Interventionist

By the time our phone rings at Family First Intervention most situations and families are at the end of their rope but thankfully still alive. This is largely because family and friends downplay the severity of the addiction and situation or they may not feel they have the right to say something for fear of anger or backlash, and the all too common thought that the addiction is either a phase or it will correct itself. If the family or friends think they they should do something, then they probably should.

As people, we can see someone in the street getting beat up, but only a small handful will do something about it while the large majority will not because of fear. They may think that it is not as bad as it looks, or most importantly that the attacker will stop on his own or someone else will fix it or come to the rescue besides them.

Over time addicts and alcoholics, at an early stage of alcohol and drug addiction, start to teach people certain behaviors so that we do nothing and ten years later you’re a junkie living in a crack house in the Harrison district on the west side of Chicago. My mother always thought that I would find that right job or meet that right woman and all of my problems would be over.

Waiting for addiction to correct itself or fade away on its own is never a safe or healthy option. The person may get mad at you for doing an alcohol or drug intervention but that is only their inner fear of you disrupting their solution which is drugs or alcohol. All too often people base the severity of an addiction based on legal issues, employment, living situation, etc. If the problem is recognizable and has many concerned than it is probably time to intervene with a professional. The professional intervention counselor can and will be there not only guide everyone through the process but to take away the anger and fear that that person may otherwise have toward family and friends.

Intervention is about giving someone a gift and allowing them to see what they are doing when they cannot. People sat back and watched Michael Jackson die and now Whitney Houston. It is not that anybody wanted this; it is just that they didn’t feel it was their place to do something or that it might not do any good. Even if people did try and it was not the outcome they wanted, they still would have had closure that they did everything they could to stop it. How many people do you think wish they would have said or done something now for Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston? Don’t wait for them to get better on their own, because who cares if they get mad at you; they have to be alive to do that.

Call us at Family First Intervention if you think you know someone who might need some help we can be reached at 877-728-1122 or on our website http://familyfirstintervention.com