Advice needed!

[Henrys]

Hello! I am new to this forum, I am just seeking for advice as one of my friend is addicted to all sort of drugs and he needs my help to quit it. He admitted that drugs made his life miserable to the extent where his parents kicked him out and his brother's didn't want to see him anymore. He wants to stop, but it seems to be very difficult for him. He doesn't know where to run. He wants to change, to be clean and a sober. I do want to help him, so I have taken an appointment at a drug treatment centre named Bellwood Health services which is near us. But I am not that knowledgeable about this. I'm hoping for an advice or suggestions. Thanks.

 

[《Plasticity》]

I'm going to move this on over to Sober Living for you .

 

[manboychef]

He has to want to do it for himself. He should be the one making the appointments for himself, and finding rides. You as a friend can do pretty much nothing but be supportive and try your hardest not to enable him.

Please keep us posted as to how this meeting at the bellwood goes. A lot of the time, if an addict truly wants to stop, then going to detox than inpatient is the way to go...but the addict truly has to want to stop!

 

[cj]

He has to want to do it for himself. He should be the one making the appointments for himself, and finding rides. You as a friend can do pretty much nothing but be supportive and try your hardest not to enable him.

Please keep us posted as to how this meeting at the bellwood goes. A lot of the time, if an addict truly wants to stop, then going to detox than inpatient is the way to go...but the addict truly has to want to stop!

I agree to some extent. But if you can tell he is making an honest effort offering encouragement and a little help is the friendly thing to do. The best thing he can do is go get some professional help. So I would say he is moving in the right direction.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yes, it's great they want to move in a healthy, positive direction. The years of abuse and shame really suck, and we all hold so much potential - especially the most down and out thieving junkbox.

What's their thing? The deal with treatment is that it more often than not doesn't work the first time you try it, partly because we often have this (false) expectation that it should work. Other than them being motivated and choosing the type of treatment that they think will fit them best, the type of treatment can make a big difference. We're all a bit different and, although we have so much in common, we have different issues.

One type of treatment may end up having a net negative impact on them, where another form may end up having a net positive impact. Of course that's impossible to know without hindsight, what works and doesn't work for addiction, for each of us, but the type of treatment they choose is very important.

 

[Stargazer]

My input is this is often a long, bumpy road. Others that aren't addicts many times seem to have unrealistic expectations of an addict, such as going to rehab will solve the problem immediately or the first time. Not to sound cliché, but it is a process.

As a friend though, being supportive, being there, reminding your friend of the things you love about him....is great stuff. But, you have to prepare yourself to be patient. I really wish the best of everything for your friend. It's not an easy transition.