Two members of my family are addicted to drugs and alcohol. As they are family and I love them and are close to them I want to help them but have no idea how to. I have already mentioned to them what they should be doing and that they need to stop but they are both weak minded and can’t seem to shake it.
The first person with the addiction is my Dad. Who is an intelligent man with a lot of potential and wisdom. Of course I love my dad and had seeing him so addicted to weed. It has made him lazy, weak, skinny and lead him to make poor money decision and a lack of motivation. He knows he needs to stop but due to past trauma in life I think he finds it as his release from life.
The other person is my cousin he is early 30s and has been alcohol and cocaine user for almost 10 years now. He uses the alcohol to cover up his a aniexty and it is like a crutch for him in social situation. He also a very clever guy who has a lot of potential he. He made a Shit tonne of money in his early 20 which lead him into becoming a party animal. I have dealt with him aniexty and basically over come most of it so I have the blue print for him. I know he wants to stop but he is trapped ina. Vicious circle. He got a hot girl loyal girl and his own place but if he carrys on he will loose it all.
What do I do? I love both of these men dearly. Want them to change to be the best version of them selves. I would never turn my back on family but is this not my problem should carry on focusing on myself and keep it moving?? It’s not nice knowing you could help but at the same time I have my own life and problems that come first. Anyone who any expertise in the field I would greatly appreciate your knowledge.
All the best
J
Vermillion-Rx Admin 4y ago
As a psych major in a trauma-centric field of study, admitting one had a problem is a good first step. At least one of them seems to have admitted as much
As for the traumas, there are a lot emotion regulation problems that go into substance use. I've been reading a lot of these papers lately.
You could look up "emotion dysregulation substance use" on Google scholar if you're curious. They both might be trying to handle their life problems in a terrible way.
Ultimately they're going to have to really see how this shit is hurting themselves, trying to convince them won't do anything worth your time.
You could try getting them to tag along and do actually healthy activities with them. Maybe they'll see that there is more out there than drugging up.
You could try to find both a good local therapist for either of them.
What you have to realize is these drugs give dopamine hits* (cocaine) that are artificially higher than any naturally rewarding scenario. Combine that with trying to escape trauma and you're looking at a clusterfuck of dependency (alcohol/cocaine highs), escapism (weed/alcohol) and sensation-seeking (definitely cocaine/possibly weed)
I hate to say it, but they need to have a desire to change. Either they need some profound realization that something is wrong or to see that there is a lot more than life than drugs and that drugs are an obstacle to whatever that is for them
Edit: I'm not a clinician, just research-focused and wanted to add a disclaimer to my post
whytehorse2021 4y ago
I've found there are 2 types of drug users. One is the party people that get addicted and the other is the mental people that are self-medicating. With the mental people it's possible to get therapy and more socially acceptable drugs. With the party people you can point it out to them and they may cut back or quit but without any feedback at all they usually just crash and burn, hit rock bottom, and either die or screw their life up.
hannulv 4y ago
I know a vet, who's completely fucked in his head due to war trauma. He has pot shed, where for years he's baked all day long to help control his anxiety. He basically did so much pot it killed his libido and he stopped being able to fuck entirely. He started doing small doses of mushrooms a couple of times a week, and it has been like a magic cure. He smokes about 80% less. It's made him happy and positive and energetic again. He started boning wife again. It's been an all around success story. I also know a junkie who basically heard that mushrooms could cure addiction and did a few big doses and went completely clean (no drinking, smoking, opiates, etc.)
Cocaine is a hard drug to stop. He just has to want to stop. Cocaine gives you horrible jowls, heart problems, and schizophrenia when used long term. Lots of normal people used pot and alcohol to lubricate social situations. The goal has to be moderation. That requires some desire and some detox, and some other habits to replace the bad ones. I don't know that shrooms would be great approach for a party person, unless they were really looking to do it to cure them.