There is no easy or convenient time to be addicted to drug substances, but many addicts (and their family members) would readily admit that the holiday season is a particularly rough time. Stress levels tend to run higher during the holidays, which can lead to greater substances abuse and an exacerbation of one’s health, financial and relationship difficulties. Family members who are dealing with a drug addicted loved one can grow to dread the holiday season, as every gathering seems to be another excuse for substance abuse. Gifts can be especially tricky, because a drug addict is highly likely to sell or trade their gifts in order to obtain more drugs. However, there is one gift that can truly help everyone–the gift of drug rehabilitation treatment.
Entering Drug Rehab Over the Holidays
Rather than struggling through the holiday season while watching a loved one suffer from drug addiction problems, family members can help them start upon the road to recovery. It is truly the greatest gift one can give an addict–the chance to take back control of their life and begin fresh for the new year. Furthermore, the holiday season can actually be the best time of year for an addict to begin their recovery treatment, for five very specific reasons:
1. It helps the individual to avoid temptation. The holiday atmosphere can drive an addict into feelings of depression, self-pity and over-indulgence, which often leads to increased drug abuse. It can also cause them to be surrounded by opportunities to abuse drugs, like excessive amounts of alcohol at holiday gatherings, which can weaken what resolve they may have to abstain from drug use. Since most addicts benefit greatly from being removed from the very environments and routines that have helped to contribute to their drug problems, it is obvious that moving away from the holiday atmosphere and into a supportive treatment facility can benefit them greatly.
2. It provides a safer environment. An increase of drug and alcohol use during the holiday season means that there is also an increase in fatal accidents and overdoses. A drug addict who is in a treatment facility is much safer, which can do wonders for his family members’ peace of mind.
3. It allows for more meaningful communication. What stands for communication between a drug addict and his family members is hardly healthy communication at all, which can make the holiday season particularly tough. An individual who is in recovery, however, will be able to have more meaningful communications with their family members.
4. It’s a practical time to miss work or school. Since the holiday season is commonly when individuals take time off from work or school, it can be the easiest time for an individual to finally get away for the length of a treatment program.
5. It’s a good time to begin a new routine. For many addicts who are in recovery treatment during the holidays, it is the first time in a very long time that they have been sober through this season, which allows them to being a whole new routine and tradition that they can carry on into the future.
It can seem difficult to consider sending one’s loved one away for treatment during the holiday season, but one needs only to stop and think about what this actually means for their loved one. They are not simply sending their loved one off, they are assisting their loved one in establishing the health and happiness they will need to carry on into a much better and happier future.