Is drug addiction a family problem?
Drug addiction today is one of the most difficult problems for practical psychologists. Working with drug addicts requires a lot of courage. The number of cases of long-term abstinence from drugs is no more than 30%, almost like in oncology. Does this mean that you should not be treated? Of course, it is worth it, without treatment, only a few find the strength to give up the drug.
There are several stages in drug use.
The first stage is latent (hidden). A person uses drugs, but his relatives do not know about it yet, rather, they do not want to know. At this stage, the family has a powerful mechanism for displacing any information that may be related to family problems and the possibility of drug use.
At the stage of latent anesthesia, close people surprisingly turn into blind people. They don't see the clearest and most obvious signs of drug use. They do not notice the strangeness of his behavior, dilated or narrowed pupils, strange statements out of place and emotions that do not correspond to the situation. They do not notice that in the morning it is difficult for him to get up, and in the evening he comes home strange or too relaxed, or a little depressed, they do not notice the expression on his face, his strange behavior. Sometimes they do not notice that the amount that he requires daily for his expenses increases significantly. Sometimes they don't even notice that things are missing. If they notice this, surprisingly, they find explanations that are not related to the possibility of their child using drugs. All this is connected with the functioning of the displacement mechanism.
Meanwhile, establishing control over behavior and conducting treatment at the stage of the first tests is much more effective, so it is extremely important to pay attention to the oddities of behavior and contact a specialist as quickly as possible.
What happens when drug use can no longer be hidden?
Loved ones fall into a state of very powerful emotional shock. From this point on, an acute family crisis begins to develop in the family. All the contradictions that existed up to this time in the family are beginning to escalate. Mothers and wives, as a rule, develop tremendous activity to save their children and husbands, and fathers who do not compete with them in this, either remain passive, or react very unstable to the drug addict, behave aggressively. In the family, chronic stress is formed, which can be called the word codependency. Codependents are torn between two alternatives: either strict control or rejection.
What is better for an addict: to isolate him from his family or to give him the opportunity to live independently? Is this problem solvable in principle?
By and large, if we are talking about drug addicts who started using drugs after the age of 20, then for the vast majority of them, the best option is simply to distance them from their family, when help is provided only in response to real actions related to drug withdrawal.
No, don't forget. Leave it alone and say: Son (or daughter), I am responsible for you. And you are responsible for me, and you are responsible for yourself? The best option is to return to him the measure of responsibility that he should bear for himself. But optimal assistance to the family can only be provided by a specialist who has the necessary training.
Is there any real, relevant statistics on all the problems of drug addiction?
Any statistics related to drug addiction problems do not reflect the real picture in any way. As a rule, statistical reports include data on registered drug dispensaries or refer to statistics of law enforcement agencies. Those who are recorded by law enforcement agencies do not exhaust all social groups that are more or less involved in drug addiction and drug trafficking.
What measures can be taken to make people realize that they are doing evil? Can this problem be called psychological?
There is a trade in death. And in this sense, people are surprisingly blind to what is really happening. Remember our reaction when the boy right in front of us buys cigarettes in the store. This is a psychological problem, of course. Problems cannot be solved without an active position of everyone, without intolerance to drug use.
If there is information about the distribution of the drug – it must be transmitted to law enforcement agencies by calling the helpline of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia in the Lipetsk region 8 (4742) 25-27-25, in the city of Yelets 8 (47467) 4-62-37.
You can also leave your questions and messages on the official website of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia for the Lipetsk region — fskn.lipetsk.ru. Every drug user and their family members should know the helpline of the rehabilitation center of the drug treatment service-43-00-90, where you can get information on all issues related to the treatment and diagnosis of drug addiction.
Clinical psychologist
GUZ "Lipetsk regional narcological dispensary"
Olga Olegovna Biryukova
