TDS opiate addiction... advice?

snowboarder7791

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jsut found out that my nephew has been on opiates for over a year now. i guessed he overdosed at work a few weeks back. this is def causing my sister and the fam major issues as he has been stealing money and what not. he still lives at home and my sister doesnt want him to be living on the streets. i have done my fair share of things in the past but opiates was never one of them so i dont have any advice to give my sister on this situation . any advice from current/former opiate addicts that i can give him. if he doesnt want to listen (19/20 year old who prob thinks he knows everything and nothing bad will prob happen to me type) some i can pass along to my sister. thanks ...
 
tell your nephew how much you love him and that your worried thats how i would start don't even mention drugs that makes addicts like myself defensive
 
yea that i wouldnt do but my sister i don't know if she does. i kinda told my sister that i would say that i will do what i can and be there for you. as far as the living situation what advice would you have on that flowers?
 
Thats not bad a advice... I would consider and talk with family members about the possibility of being able to reveal some aspects about your drug use to this person. As we already know we a way more open with drug users than we are of straight people. This may facilitate a relatively open line of communication.

As far as Opiates.. It seems like he is definitely addicted as he is steeling money to feed the addiction. Usually but not always when someone is stealing money for opiates it also means that they are also physically dependent. The fact that he has OD definitely sounds off the alarm bells.. and at work no the less. If someone is using at work enough to OD then there is definitely big problems.

I would sit down and have a little heart to heart with him and consider opening up about your drug use. Its to late for him to follow you down a dark path as he is already there. just calmly shoot the shit one drug user to another.. find out if he has tried to stop and what happened. If he is unable to stop then he either has to get help or go on maintenance and get help as well. There are allot of different approaches to addiction out there now.. here is are some threads that explore addiction and resources to heal. There are also some good links as far as maintenance. I would find out his dose before I started talking maintenance. It seems like the way to go but has many negatives as well and is not appropriate for some people IMO.. first because of the long half life it is really hard to quit and living on maintenance is similar to living on other opiates with out the highs and lows.

If you are able to facilitate a bond with your nephew then when you guys talk you could gently search for the reason he used or uses so much in the first place.. many times at an age like this it is often to do with social anxiety so something you may explore.


Varied Approaches to Addiction Recovery

SMART Recovery (Support Group information and discussion)

Twelve-Step Addiction Recovery Support Groups

Addiction Guide

The easy part is detoxing off the opiates. The hard part is staying clean and living a peaceful rewarding life in recovery. Please keep us informed at how things go. wish you guys the best:)

EDIT: this thread shows what can happen when someone cuts the bs emotion and gets real and sits down to a heart to heart.. also it has resource links for support for people wh have loved ones in an addcition Support For Those Affected by the Addiction of Others
 
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most of them know that i did some drugs. i told them that i smoked weed did mushrooms and rolled.. but i never got to the point of addiction or anything like that. more of a expand my mind type of trips / about 5 times a year type of thing . i have told him that. i didnt glorify it or anything like that. but i will pass this advice/ links to my sister.. thanks guys
 
yeah a clear line on communication where he doesn't feel that he is being judged for his addiction (stealing can be addressed later) or looked down on or talked down to.. can do wonders.. hey to a fellow scony<3 as well.. pack looked good today.. and I always enjoy your photos boarder:)
 
turns out there is alot more info that i was jsut told. not everyone in my family knows about this and i guess they tried a intervention type thing once already. and his younger sister want to leave the house becuase he is stealing from her and she is beyond frustrated that my sis isn't doing anything about it. found out from another sister that she acts like nothing is really happening and all is well . looks like things are bleaker then i thought... sucks... lol i did watch the game but im not a huge packers fan. thanks on the photo love :)
 
There is nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about in addiction.. if you want the best results I would throw this hiding and shame in the garbage and start to approach this as a group with patience and love... he most likely understands it less than you guys.. here is kinda cool thread filled with amazing people, allot of whom were addicts.. people so profound you would not be living the life you are without them... just something to think about, becasue addcits get such a bad wrap that people often feel the need to hide it from people8(.. thus preventing the help they need.. Who is your favorite drug addict(s) and/or user(s) of all time?;)
 
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There is nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about in addiction.. if you want the best results I would throw this hiding and shame in the garbage and start to approach this as a group with patience and love... he most likely understands it less than you guys.. here is kinda cool thread filled with amazing people, allot of whom were addicts.. people so profound you would not be living the life you are without them... just something to think about, becasue addcits get such a bad wrap that people often feel the need to hide it from people8(.. thus preventing the help they need.. Who is your favorite drug addict(s) and/or user(s) of all time?;)

yea i agree.. i jsut found out about this last night. i didnt even know they tried a intervention type thing a year ago.. i mywlf have been left out of the loop. if i would have know this i could have maybe helped out a long time ago. (( i could have directed them to sites like this then) i told my sister that some people on this site know their stuff on this i dont know why some of them feel like they should be hiding it from the rest of the family. i told my other sister who knows that something needs to be said as soon as possible.
 
Addiction knows no economic, cultural or racial boundary and deserves discussion. If you value your nephews life and his loved ones sanity I would suggest alanon meetings for them. Turning a blind eye is putting ammo in the gun he's pointing at his temple. At the very least look up some NA meetings and suggest taking him to one. They seriously saved my life (along with maintenence and therapy)

Nsa is right...we don't get to dependent, abusive using because life is full of amazing things....its the painful and unhappy ones that get us there.
 
I would consider calling him and saying hey i just learned about whats going on.. I really sorry that you are facing this and I would like to help in any way possible.. can we sit down and talk.. yeah i just learned about the intervention.. no this isn't one of those.. will the family know about this, yes they do.. I and everyone else are just here for you.. we know whats up.. no ones going to be flying off the handle and freaking out and telling of forcing you to do anything .. but hey we love you and are worried and want to knows wahts really going on.. something like that... just cut through the bull shit as much as possible with a twenty some addict.. say hey we just want to help you come in from the cold.. tell him there a ton of options to begin to heal from this..
 
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again he needs people who love him to show concern and give options on how to get out of the deep dark and depressing hole he has dug for himself but tbh sometimes that isn't enough for someone to stop using it certainly wasn't enough for me i have many people who love me dearly and want to help me but i like getting high too much if he gets to that point you need to distance yourself and maybe some therapy to handle the fact that your love wasn't enough to save him a lot of my family has done this with me and my dad but we still have family that loves us and actually wants to hang with us as long as we're not all fucked up and acting stupid but my family isn't exactly typical we have a lot of life long addicts in the family it's kinda the norm to have a habit so i may be less helpful than others in your specific situation
 
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