The most common symptom of substance abuse is a change in a person’s behavior. Specific behavior changes vary from person to person. They depend on how severe the disorder is. Symptoms may include the following:
A person struggling with addiction is dealing with a complex brain disease that compels them to continue their drinking or substance abuse even when faced with damaging and harmful consequences.
Denial is a common struggle with addiction or mental health diagnoses. Untreated persons with addiction or mental health conditions will justify, rationalize, or minimize their self-destructive behaviors.
Persons with addictions or mental health will find excuses to ignore the advice of concerned loved ones who watch them struggle with addiction or mental health conditions. You cannot talk your loved ones into stopping the use of drugs or alcohol or make them realize how their mental health conditions are presenting. It will be important to access professional help.
Watching someone you love battle addiction is challenging. It’s painful to watch someone whose health continues to decline. It’s frustrating to find solutions for a person who doesn’t acknowledge the problem. Ultimately though, it can simply be exhausting as we feel drained emotionally, mentally, physically, and sometimes even spiritually. Family members and friends are often “tapped out” and may grow resentful of the person they are most concerned about; therefore, an interventionist can be crucial. Denial is a powerful tool used by the alcoholic/addict to allow the behavior to continue. Family members often use it too to hide the severity of the issue.
There are many theories about reasons for addiction or mental health diagnoses including genetics, biology, social, psychological, and environmental factors.
Chronic pain has increasingly become a factor with addiction. When a person feels pain for longer than 90 days it is considered chronic. This may lead to a prescription intended for pain management that leads to substance abuse.
Chronic pain has increasingly become a factor with addiction. When a person feels pain for longer than 90 days it is considered chronic. This may lead to a prescription intended for pain management that leads to substance abuse.
Another important factor to consider is trauma. Trauma can take many different forms such as verbal, physical, and mental abuse, divorce, death, etc. Trauma creates intense feelings of discomfort and may cause people to turn to substances like alcohol and/or drugs to become numb.
Mental illnesses, (also called mental health conditions or disorders) refer to a wide range of mental health conditions or disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, substance abuse, alcoholism, and other addictive behaviors. Many different conditions falling under this category can vary in degree of severity ranging from mild, to moderate, to severe.
Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate severe. Mental illness, also mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.
Any is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder and can vary in impact, ranging from no impairment to mild, moderate, and even severe impairment.
Serious Mental Health disorders is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. In 2020, there were an estimated 52.9 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States.Taken from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov
Mental health issues often go on for too long or don’t ever receive treatment because they require loved ones to identify the problem. It often takes outside help to address mental health issues and pave a way forward to recovery.
Recognizing and preventing mental health issues requires investing in intervention programs, and services at the earliest signs of a problem. Untreated mental health conditions are progressive.
Studies show that many people who develop mental health disorders show symptoms by the age of 14. Waiting too long to take action can result in crisis situations such as trouble with the law, dropping out of school, involvement with drugs or alcohol, or suicide.
We are very experienced facilitating intervention services for both addictions and/or mental health challenges!
The intervention process is extremely effective in getting an addicted person into an appropriate drug intervention program where they will get the help they need. Interventions for mental health treatment are available.
An intervention is used after nothing else has worked. Previous attempts at change may have used reasoning, discussion, threats, ultimatums, and one-on-one tactics. When these fail, frustration can lead to anger. This can go on for years. Appeals to reason and one-on-one discussions rarely produce change in someone who is deeply engaged in self-destructive behaviors.
On the other hand, an intervention that includes several people who are meaningful to the person, can be highly effective when it is delivered in an invitational, respectful, and logical way while focusing on changing everyone’s behavior, not just the loved one.
Yes, our team of professionals work closely with other therapists, consulting with them and other professionals on treatment plans, inpatient or outpatient treatment centers for clients based on the client’s condition, and other professional collaboration efforts.
Call our toll-free number to make an appointment with one of our interventionists. We will discuss whether the intervention process is appropriate for your situation. If so, we will explain the steps that the family and friends will need to take to start the process and make the intervention successful.
No! It is unethical to accept funds from treatment programs. Our goal is to find the best treatment center for your loved one. CanAm Interventions is an independent consultant and never accepts compensation for referrals from any outside source.
