Family Attitudes to Avoid During a Rehab

If you have an alcoholic in the family and he or she is trying to recover then there are 12 attitudes you should avoid taking towards the problem or it could make the problem worse. Whether the 'problem child' in the situation is actually your child or a spouse, there is a big risk of sabotaging your own best intentions if you are not careful about how you deal with the drug addict or alcoholic.
1. Do not encourage shame by portraying this as a family disgrace as recovery from addiction is a disease that can be recovered from.
2. Don't nag or lecture the alcoholic. This will only increase their need to lie and make promises that cannot be kept.
3. Do not take a martyr-like attitude that gives the alcoholic to feel the guilt and shame that triggers drinking
4. Don't use 'if you loved me' as an appeal as this only increases the guilt that triggers drinking.
5. Avoid threats (including ones to take them into alcohol treatment) unless you intend to carry them out as this badly complicates any trust that is between you
6. Don't hide their drugs or alcohol as this only pushes them to a state of desperation
7. Do not use alcohol with the alcoholic if you want him or her to stop
8. Do not try to protect the recovering alcoholic from situations where drinking is involved as they must learn on their own to say no
9. Do not demand that the person recover immediately and totally during alcohol treatment; there are going to be relapses no matter what happens
10. Do not be jealous of those in alcohol treatment who may also be trying to help your loved one stay sober, even if they are taking up a great deal of his or her time
11. Do not save the alcoholic. Instead let him or her suffer the consequences of his or her actions.

The one thing you should do is offer as much love, understanding and support that you can during the recovery. Be patient as alcohol treatment really can take some years to be effective. You should avoid being controlling, critical or cornering the addict in any way, especially if they are a rebellious teen or a teen that has a dual diagnosis of ADD, schizophrenia or bi-polar mania. The teen addict is especially rebellious and resistant to most good intentions seeing them as meddling and smothering rather than actually helpful.

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Dual Diagnosis and Teen Addiction

Dual diagnosis defines a person who has both an alcohol and drug problem and who has emotional and psychiatric problems either as a result of the addiction or has been medicating existing psychiatric problems with drugs and alcohol to escape from the misery of them.
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and fifty-three percent of drug abusers have at least one serious mental illness. This means that if your teen is a schizophrenic or has ADD he or she is more likely to be a drug or alcohol abuser.
There are all kinds of different psychiatric problems that are thought to occur in tandem with drug or alcohol dependency. These include:
• Anxiety disorders like panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and phobias
• Depressive disorders like depression and bipolar disorder
• Other psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and personality disorders
According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health study, f you have anti-social personality disorder you are 15.5% more likely to abuse a drug or alcohol. If you are a manic depressive you are 14.5 percent more likely to abuse it during a manic episode. Following that the person with schizophrenia is most likely to abuse alcohol or drugs at 10.1 percent.
In general dual diagnosis experts do seem to agree that recreational drinking and drug use may be an attempt on the part of the addict to try and medicate a preexisting psychiatric problem. Both drugs and alcohol can help release inhibitions, help a person feel more relaxed and confident and also help bury feelings of panic, nervousness or low self-consciousness.
To take care of a person with a dual diagnosis, treatment often entails figuring out what the primary condition is. Sometimes it is the substance abuse problem that is the fueling disorder and sometimes it is the psychiatric disorder. At any rate medication and a long stay in a rehab is often prescribed to get to the bottom of what is really triggering the dual diagnosis.
The upsetting thing about having to treat a teen with this is that often even more drugs are used to treat a drug addiction. It can be very difficult to find exactly the right drug to solve the problem. It is like finding the key to the absolutely right door to find what will restore the balance in your child's brain.

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