Have a friend who is spiraling downward

[Roger32]

Guy developed a heroin addiction. It has been about a year or slightly longer then that since this has been the case.

He has a sister who is 1 year younger then him and they are very close. But man, they are both going down the tubes. The sister has been using H for 3-4 years. Supposedly was clean for a significant portion of that, but who knows.

Sister got arrested for prostituting herself. I figure it would be a wake up call to my friend, but he just goes on like nothing is wrong.

I dont really talk to him or see him very much anymore (he rarely calls me unless its asking for some kind of favor, and if I call him to do something, he usually doesnt come out, and never comes out if it costs any $ at all).

Guy wont even admit that he is doing heroin. And I actually caught him doing it in person (sniffing it).

What do you do at this point? Myself and his other friends have made it clear its not cool to do, and he is pretty much out of the crew at this point. Who he hangs out with nowadays, idk.

Also to make things more complicated, he actually graduated college this spring and got a decent job (independent sales though, so who knows if he is BSing about how good a job it is or not)

 

[specneck]

Where do you/does he live??

I know how I was treated here and it got me off heroin. I'd definitely still be shooting now if it werent for this treatment but there's been alot of bad press about it and it seems it's not for everyone

 

[fizzle]

Do you know if there was something that started this? I mean I dont know of a whole lot of people who go suddenly into such a heavy addiction and just blow off all their friends and family like that. I know addiction, especially heroin, can take over someones life, but most people will only take so much before they realize its a problem. I would bet theres some source or some reason behind it. It might help to see if you can figure out what... assuming it doesnt take too much prying.

 

[User Name Here]

Well, the only person who can help him is himself. Until he decides he needs help, he won't be able to accept any and move forward with treatment. A lot of people have to hit "rock bottom" as well before they will want to change anything. Some people disagree with this but I think it's definitely a motivational factor for a lot of people when they decide to get clean (I know it was for me). When you're an addict you tend to tune out everyone else so he will more than likely ignore your concerns =/

I'm sorry to say but I don't think there's anything you or your friends can do because he has to want it on his own and he doesn't sound like he's at that point. Be there for him, talk to him, and try to help him but don't be surprised if the outcome isn't what you think it should be. Like I said, addicts are good at ignoring problems. I mean hell, they get to deal with their issues by getting high, the issue of drug addiction included (a vicious cycle). Try to gather some information on local treatment facilities, talk to his family, etc. and pull together a group of folks he cares a lot about that can confront him if anything. Maybe it will get him thinking about recovery.

I wish your friend the best of luck. Hopefully he gets better one day.

 

[User Name Here]

Do you know if there was something that started this? I mean I dont know of a whole lot of people who go suddenly into such a heavy addiction and just blow off all their friends and family like that. I know addiction, especially heroin, can take over someones life, but most people will only take so much before they realize its a problem. I would bet theres some source or some reason behind it. It might help to see if you can figure out what... assuming it doesnt take too much prying.

I didn't think about this but it's a really good point. A lot of addicts are trying to quell some sort of pain caused by past experiences. Treating the emotional issues at hand can help alleviate the need to escape by getting high.

 

[Roger32]

Do you know if there was something that started this? I mean I dont know of a whole lot of people who go suddenly into such a heavy addiction and just blow off all their friends and family like that. I know addiction, especially heroin, can take over someones life, but most people will only take so much before they realize its a problem. I would bet theres some source or some reason behind it. It might help to see if you can figure out what... assuming it doesnt take too much prying.

Nope.

He had gotten into coke in high school a bit, but that had been over and done with for over 5 years before anything with heroin even came up. And it wasnt really all that serious in the first place. Besides that, nothing crazy at all. Occasional shrooms and pharmys, but that was about it.

You can tell the guy has an addictive personality though. He would smoke pot all the time. He literally didnt go a day without smoking pot for about a decade. And he would smoke every 3-4 hours. Very heavy pot smoker. But so are a lot of other people and they dont go get addicted to heroin.

I assume he got into it because of his sister, but I cant be sure

 

[Roger32]

I didn't think about this but it's a really good point. A lot of addicts are trying to quell some sort of pain caused by past experiences. Treating the emotional issues at hand can help alleviate the need to escape by getting high.

Yea there was some issues in his past. Parents divorced when he was young (6-7 years old), but he has mentioned in the past that his Dad used to beat on his Mom.

But I dont buy into this sort of shit. And the guy actually has had a good relationship with his father nowadays.

 

[n3ophy7e]

Hi Roger I'm going to move this over to TDS because I think you will get more advice over there