With the concern about a shift in a loved one’s personality, you may worry whether they need help to treat a behavioral health condition. It may be more common than you realize. It is hard to express those concerns to them constructively without their defenses getting put up. When encouraging a loved one to seek help for mental illness (or addiction), it helps to get some tips on how to get started.
Mental Health Support
It helps to understand the way that people think and behave when under the throes of active addiction. It is best to bring up a discussion of family and mental health at the right time and place. There is not a conversation to have at family dinner. It means setting up a good place to have a conversation where there is little room for interruption. A loved one won’t feel ambushed or uneasy about having this conversation in public.
Needs Come Last
It is hard to think about a loved one and their addiction. But remove ego from it for a time to think about their needs right now. If their needs are met in recovery, you and the other family members will also benefit. It is not direct but indirect benefit. There will be family therapy opportunities, and support groups for family and friends. With the right support, the spotlight belongs to that loved one, with others seeking the professional help they need alongside them in the journey.
Work (Hard)
It may seem like the work focuses on them, but some mental health conditions have a way of bringing up feelings of despair. This means a loved one may not feel they have hope of overcoming the condition. This means if a person is willing to persuade the family of seeking help, they should do it willingly. You may want to offer to go with them to therapy to tell them you are willing to work just as hard as they are on this journey. It will not be easy but it is necessary.
Be Encouraging
It seems obvious to the whole conversation, but it is best to be encouraging as much as possible. There is no way to support a loved one’s decision without being encouraging and supportive of their journey. They have been through pain and sorrow nobody else knows, but the truth is, if a loved one can find help, that will mean the world to them in terms of recovery.
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