What if a Loved One Refuses to Go to Treatment?
One of the most difficult and daunting tasks an individual may ever go through is helping a loved one get the addiction help that they need. Helping a loved one go to treatment often takes time, tenacity, and tenderness. The good news is that there are many tools and techniques to help get a loved one where they need to be to get the care they deserve (and often secretly desire).
How to Help a Loved One Go to Treatment
Now, helping a loved one go to treatment does not come naturally for many people. This is okay. In fact, this is normal. There is a reason why people specifically go into the field of addiction recovery to become experts in these very experiences.
The first thing to remember about helping a loved one go to treatment is that no matter how bad one wants to get them the help they need, only they can make the ultimate decision to do so. No matter how bad we want it for them, they have to want it for themselves.
Recognizing if a Loved One Might Need to Go to Treatment
Of course, before we can help a loved one go to treatment and get the help that they need, we have to be able to recognize that they need help in the first place. One of the keys to understanding this process is to understand that addiction is a disease, not some type of personal choice or moral failing.
According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), “Addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that we must treat as we do other such diseases. We do not expect the hearts of patients with heart failure to behave normally – we understand that their function has been altered by disease. Why, then, do we expect the brains of substance abusers to behave normally, since we know that their function has also been altered by disease?” Once we understand addiction as a disease, then we can better understand the signs and symptoms that we should be looking out for.
The previous journal also brought up an important point. That is that addiction is not just a disease, but a “relapsing disease.” Relapses can happen to anyone if they do not stay connected to their program of recovery.
Also, relapses are more common than many people may think. According to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychiatry Reports, “It has long been known that addictive disorders are chronic and relapsing in nature. Recent estimates from clinical treatment studies suggest that more than two-thirds of individuals relapse within weeks to months of initiating treatment.” Also, “For 1-year outcomes across alcohol, nicotine, weight, and illicit drug abuse, studies show that more than 85% of individuals relapse and return to drug use within 1 year of treatment.”
The Common Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
Addiction (such as alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder) is more prevalent in the U.S. than many people may like to think. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “In 2022, 48.7 million people aged 12 or older (or 17.3%) had a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year, including 29.5 million who had an alcohol use disorder (AUD), 27.2 million who had a drug use disorder (DUD), and 8.0 million people who had both an AUD and a DUD.”
It is also true that many people with addiction also struggle with co-occurring disorders. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “7.7 million adults have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders… Of the 20.3 million adults with substance use disorders, 37.9% also had mental illnesses. Among the 42.1 million adults with mental illness, 18.2% also had substance use disorders.”
One way to reduce these numbers is to better be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of addiction. The following are just a few of those signs and symptoms:
- Losing interest in activities and hobbies once enjoyed
- Isolating away from family and close friends
- “Hanging out” with others who engage in alcohol and substance use
- Using alcohol and substances as coping mechanisms for other issues
- Experiencing otherwise unexplained physical ailments, such as headaches and/or gastrointestinal problems
- Having trouble with sleeping, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (insomnia)
- Changes in appetite
- Exhibiting uncharacteristic mood swings
- Feeling overly anxious and/or depressed
- Having suicidal ideations
As one can see, these can be significantly damaging (even deadly) symptoms. This is why if any, many, or all of these symptoms are present, it is highly recommended that professional help be sought as soon as possible. Doing so could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences.
What if a Loved One Refuses to Go to Treatment?
Now, as previously mentioned, no one can get someone else sober. They must make that decision on their own (no matter how hard we try or want it to happen). However, as loved ones, we are uniquely qualified to make decisions that will help them make their own decision to get help.
This includes setting boundaries. Setting boundaries is one of the best ways to help get a loved one to accept the help they need. These may be boundaries like not letting a loved one remain living in the house if they continue to use, not letting them engage with certain family members (such as their children) if they are under the influence, or cutting them off financially or with legal aid until they accept that they need help.
Of course, setting these boundaries is only going to work if we stick to them. If we are not serious about them, they are rarely going to be effective at helping a loved one go to treatment. Engaging with an interventionist is a great way to better understand and set these boundaries.
A Focus on the Intervention Process
Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we have interventionists who can work in all 50 states. Our interventionists will work closely with family and friends of individuals who are struggling to get them the help that they need.
An interventionist is an essential leader who can unify the family to help their loved one both through their words (direct letters) and their actions (setting boundaries). Having an interventionist who is directly connected to a recovery center is also crucial because they can send a loved one directly to the help they need. This help may include a safe and secure detox.
A Focus on the Detox Process
When it comes to detoxing from substances and alcohol, it is important to always do it in the care of qualified professionals and addiction specialists. This can be especially true with alcohol use disorder (AUD) because detoxing off of alcohol can even be deadly.
Connecting with a safe and secure detox will also make the process significantly more comfortable. For example, many people don’t realize just how dehydrated and nutrient-deprived an individual who is struggling with AUD and SUD actually is. These nutrients can be quickly administered in a safe and healthy way at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab – either with pharmaceutical-grade supplements or infusion therapies. This gets an individual in the best shape physically that they can be so they can transfer to a residential recovery center to begin to also heal mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
A Focus on Transferring From Detox to Residential Treatment
Residential treatment is often the best choice for those who initially require a detox. This is because they can be monitored 24/7 and receive any help that they need day or night.
Residential treatment also allows an individual to connect more intimately with the right means, methods, and modalities that are going to help them both get sober and stay sober in the long term. This type of treatment is also the best way to get to the essential root/core causes of one’s addiction issues.
Getting to the Root/Core Causes of One’s Issues
It is important to understand that one doesn’t go to treatment just to stop using alcohol and substances (though, of course, that is a crucial part of it). No, one goes to treatment so they can address the underlying issues that caused them to drink and use in the first place. This is why it is often said that one’s addiction is more about their “thinking,” than it is about their “drinking.”
Now, getting to the root/core cause of one’s issues is often easier said than done. This is because it takes critical individualized and comprehensive care with a multi-angled approach to get to these underlying issues.
Many recovery centers only focus on “cookie-cutter,” “one-note” recovery plans. Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we find that this approach rarely works. This is why we offer recovery plans that pull from all areas of addiction treatment. Our plans include experiential therapies like surf therapy and horticulture therapy, holistic healing methods like meditation and yoga, and psychotherapies like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT).
A Focus on Psychotherapy
There is a reason why most addiction (and mental health) recovery plans use psychotherapy as a foundation for their success. This is because psychotherapies are evidence-based and have frankly been shown (data-driven) to work. One of the most studied and most effective psychotherapies is CBT.
CBT is particularly effective because it gets to the underlying issues of one’s addiction, which, as previously stated, is critical. It also helps individuals start to adjust their negative cognitions (thoughts) and emotions (feelings) so they can then positively adjust their behaviors.
CBT also makes the individual an active participant in their recovery. This is important because it offers an essential sense of autonomy. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, “Consistent with the medical model of psychiatry, the overall goal of treatment is symptom reduction, improvement in functioning, and remission of the disorder. To achieve this goal, the patient becomes an active participant in a collaborative problem-solving process to test and challenge the validity of maladaptive cognitions and to modify maladaptive behavioral patterns…. Although these strategies greatly emphasize cognitive factors, physiological, emotional, and behavioral components are also recognized for the role that they play in the maintenance of the disorder.”
DBT can also be particularly effective, especially for individuals who struggle with addiction and co-occurring issues of mental health. According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychiatry (Edgmont), “Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive, evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD). The patient populations for which DBT has the most empirical support include parasuicidal women with borderline personality disorder (BPD), but there have been promising findings for patients with BPD and substance use disorders (SUDs), persons who meet criteria for binge-eating disorder, and depressed elderly patients…. DBT is a comprehensive program of treatment consisting of individual therapy, group therapy, and a therapist consultation team.”
A Focus on Experiential Therapy
Another realm of therapy that can be highly beneficial for those who go to treatment is experiential therapy. This is a therapy that focuses on experiences (as the name would suggest) rather than discussion (such as what happens in psychotherapy). One highly beneficial and effective experiential therapy is art therapy.
Art therapy is a great and creative way to start to work through one’s issues of addiction and/or mental health. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cureus, “Art therapy can help people express themselves more freely, improve their mental health, and improve interpersonal relationships. The basis of art therapy is established on the idea that people can recover and feel better via artistic expression…. Over the last decade, health psychologists have carefully examined how art therapy helps heal emotional traumas, enhance awareness of oneself and others, establish self-reflection capacity, reduce mental manifestations and transform behaviours and way of thinking.”
Surfing is also an art form that has now been adopted by the recovery community. It is now understood that “surf therapy” offers many vital benefits for recovery. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Carefully planned water activities tailored to the needs of the individual can contribute to correct psychosocial and cognitive development. The International Surf Therapy Organization summarizes the benefits of adequately indicated surf therapy as follows: improved physical health and mobility; improved mental health, including reduction of specific symptoms, such as posttraumatic stress and depression; improved well-being (strengthening of trust and confidence, encouragement of independence, resilience and protective coping strategies) and improved social skills.”
A Focus on Holistic Healing Methods
There are also many holistic healing methods that can help an individual recover once they decide to go to treatment. These modalities include massage, meditation, acupuncture, aroma therapy, music therapy, and yoga therapy.
Yoga therapy can be particularly beneficial because it can address physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual issues all at once. According to the International Journal of Yoga (IJOY), “Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions. Yoga therapy involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional, and spiritual pain, suffering, or limitations. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.”
Helping Loved Ones Go to Treatment and Get the Help That They Need at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab
Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we know that recovery takes a village. This includes the help of family and close friends. We are here to help complete that village and make sure that our clients don’t just recover but also recover in the long term.
Recovery is a journey, and it must start somewhere. The truth is, there is no better “somewhere” than right here on Hawaii’s majestic Big Island.
It is important to know what it looks like when a loved one is not ready to seek help. The good news is there many compassionate intervention techniques that can be employed to assist families in this difficult situation. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or both, we can help get you on the positive path toward long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For an overview of our recovery center, showcasing how our serene and supportive environment can appeal to those hesitant about seeking healing, please reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.