How to Begin Treating Heroin Addiction [Guide]
Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Sullivan
It can get confusing when trying to navigate how to deal with a heroin addiction, whether it’s for yourself or someone you love. Each treatment program is designed around the individual’ss needs, so no two treatment programs look identical. How do you begin to choose a path?
Let us help you navigate the process with this comprehensive guide. There’s much to consider when seeking treatment for heroin addiction. The length of time the addict has been addicted, and the amount of heroin they take will help you determine which programs will be most effective in navigating how to overcome heroin addiction.
To connect with treatment professionals today that are ready to help you provide support, call (385) 327-7418 for immediate and free help.
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Outpatient Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Outpatient is the least invasive type of rehabilitation which can be important for those concerned with unavoidable responsibilities. When deciding how to overcome heroin addiction, it is often the first type of program that patients try.
Patients that do not need a high level of care are suited for outpatient treatment. Outpatient allows patients to stay somewhat in control of their life and doesn’t involve remaining checked in to a facility. In some cases, it provides freedom from the stress of explaining their absence while they learn how to overcome heroin addiction.
This freedom lets an addict maintain control over their family, education, and work responsibilities. Addicts will report to a facility for appointments and will return to their homes in the evening. This level of care also provides anonymity and privacy that isn’t always a guarantee in an inpatient or residential facility. If an individual is missing work or school, it may raise questions from family and friends.
Patients struggling with Opioid Use Disorders develop a support network through group counseling, family therapy, and recreational opportunities. They will be able to build an extensive support network of peers, sponsors, and professionals.
Outpatient allows patients to immediately apply what they’re learning instead of waiting for a release date. Real life application of the tools learned in treatment can be an important differentiation in the trajectory of recovery.
Addicts will still be exposed to negative situations and triggers when not at their scheduled appointments. They are not provided with a safe environment to live in. More short-term willpower is required, and initial sobriety will involve much more diligence.
If outpatient treatment fails, medical professionals encourage patients to enter an inpatient facility or a residential program. When learning how to love a heroin addict, it’s important to remember that relapse is often a part of the process.
Inpatient Treatment for Heroin Addiction
When a patient suffering from heroin use (or an opioid use disorder) enters inpatient treatment, they live full-time in a clinical or hospital environment. This level of care gives them direct and immediate access to doctors, clinicians, and medical support when needed.
Inpatient treatment will begin with detoxification, and individuals that go, inpatient, are usually expected to suffer extreme withdrawals that need the assistance of medications. When trying to figure out how to overcome heroin addiction, it’s important to remember that withdrawing from heroin is one of the most difficult detoxifications a person can face.
This type of program is best for patients that are extremely stressed or lack confidence in their ability to avoid social triggers to use or who lack homegrown social support. When an individual struggling with opioid use disorder feels helpless in the face of their withdrawal symptoms, one of the best ways to show that you love and support them is by encouraging them to get as much support as they can get.
Residential Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Residential treatment programs last at least 28 days but often go longer. When trying to figure out what to do with a heroin addict, residential treatment is a great option if you’re determined for them to get treatment right the first time.
Patients live among other residents working on their relationship with drugs, and the location is secure, monitored, and safe. Being involved in intense therapy programs all day is the hallmark of residential treatment.
Residential treatment programs are considered safe spaces because they are highly structured and removed from daily life. Residential treatment for heroin addiction provides an environment free of negative influences and space to piece together their interests while formulating new life skills so they can manage addiction for the rest of their lives.
Choosing residential treatment is great for those who have suffered a relapse, and most people who end up in this kind of environment found that outpatient treatment wasn’t enough to help them. If you are grappling with love a heroin addict after relapse, encourage them to find a residential program.
These programs often come with a monitored detox program where the patient can get continual support as they withdraw. Once withdrawals have subsided, the heroin abuser will be immediately inundated with daily educational opportunities, diversion activities, therapies, and support groups to help them relearn how to live a sober life.
An addict may hesitate in joining residential treatment because it appears intense. Remind them that they’re designed to be emotionally supportive. They help build a community of addicts that assist each other in remaining sober.
When learning how to love a heroin addict, remember that family participation in residential treatment is important. There will be designated times when the family can come to the location to participate in therapies and activities with the addict.
Interventions for Heroin Addiction
An intervention is a staged meeting involving friends and family in the presence of trained professionals. The goal is to inspire the addict to desire behavioral change in the hopes of learning how to overcome heroin addiction.
Those gathered at the intervention will discuss the realities of the abusive lifestyle they are witnessing while figuring out how to love a heroin addict. They’ll discuss difficulties they’ve experienced and how it has affected them. They’ll verbally demonstrate how difficult it has been trying to navigate how to deal with a heroin addict.
Interventionists are trained professionals that are invited to this meeting. They will keep the conversation on topic, so the victim isn’t dogpiled and doesn’t get defensive. The point of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for engagement, support, and education.
Before the intervention, you’ll work out a treatment trajectory regarding what to do with the heroin addict in your life. The goal is to get the addict to accept this structured opportunity so they can receive the assistance they need.
It’s important that during the intervention, the addict comes to realize that they need immediate rehabilitative support.
One way to do this is to confront the addict with observed situations that make them answer yes to these situations:
- Their addictive behavior has caused difficulties in their financial, social and personal lives
- The problems resulting from their addiction cannot be controlled through willpower alone
- They actively cultivate a state of denial about how badly they are addicted
- They’ve previously been unreceptive to friends and familial criticism regarding the consequences of heroin
An addict that realizes the above points will be more capable of understanding how to overcome heroin addiction. Those present will learn important lessons about what to do with a heroin addict that needs professional support.
When to Choose and Intervention for Heroin Addiction
When your pain and suffering in watching a loved one suffer from addiction clouds your judgment regarding how to love a heroin addict, it’s time to consider staging an intervention. Interventions provide a starting point in understanding how to deliver proper support when overcoming heroin addiction.
Most addicts are inactive and have profound denial about their struggles and the severity of their substance abuse. When you recognize that this is a barrier, it’s time to educate yourself on their perspective to convey your message at an intervention better. The more help you can provide, the more success you’ll have in determining how to love a heroin addict properly.
While ideally, an addict would seek help through their own volition, sometimes it’s necessary to intervene. Interventions instruct the addict on the rehabilitative channels available. Interventions provide an opportunity for family and friends to learn how to deal with a heroin addict.
Interventions sometimes fail, and it’s important to remember that you may have to do a few of them while learning how to love a heroin addict. An intervention’s failure is not a death sentence, and each attempt will give you a better understanding of how to be more successful in the future.
How to Stage an Intervention for Heroin Addiction
For a free heroin addiction intervention consultation, call us at (385) 327-7418 today.
Setting up an addiction intervention should take careful and proper planning with a professional. It’s important that you carefully curate who is in attendance and what will be said. Please exclude anyone that makes light of the addiction or contributes to denial. Only allow people interested in cultivating positivity and individuals concerned with how to love a heroin addict.
An addict that realizes they are with people who irrevocably love them and want the best is invaluable. Cultivating this is the purpose of an intervention and the key to dealing with a heroin addict.
Make sure the space you choose is a place that feels safe. Private homes are a much better choice than public places.
It would be best if you planned what is going to be said carefully. Do not use “you” sentiments that overflow with blame. Use only “I” statements that convey feelings. An addict that is defensive will not open themselves up to receiving the help you are offering.
You’ll need to develop a follow-up plan carefully. If the addict refuses your help, be prepared to present ultimatums. Anyone gathered needs to make it clear that enabling relationships are ending immediately.
Financial or housing support will end in the face of continued abuse.
Avoid an intervention if they are high or going through withdrawals. Finding a window of sobriety will leave them more capable of understanding how to overcome heroin addiction.
When the addict agrees to treatment, you need to make sure you have rehabilitative resources ready for them to pursue. It’s best if the addict can immediately go from the intervention into a program. If you are not prepared to do this, then you are not prepared to stage an intervention.
Start the Journey of Recovery Today
It’s important to remember that empathy and understanding are key when learning how to love a heroin addict. How to deal with a heroin addict in your life will be completely subjective and dependent on the individualized needs of the abuser.
It’s also vital to remember that all program types share characteristics, so the type of program you choose when deciding how to overcome heroin addiction should cater to individual needs and preferences. No two addicts need the same combination of treatments.
Interventions are a great way to jumpstart what to do with a heroin addict under the right circumstances. This can provide an opportunity to understand the personal circumstances causing use when dealing with a heroin addict.
Remember that immediate support is available. Call (385) 327-7418 now to speak with trained professionals.
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