How do you make someone you love go to rehab? How do you make them change? Well, you can’t. You can’t control them. However, you can take these steps to nudge them to the right direction–and away from drugs and destruction for good.
Having a loved one suffer addiction and its effects–it can be heartbreaking. Sure, there’s anger, despair, loneliness, blame, betrayal, and despair, but your heart also goes out to the person you love who now seems like a stranger.
Many times, you may have tried to make them see the error of their ways and how they have come so far from being the person you once knew. You may have tried different approaches to handle them: cold shoulder, screaming, threatening, ultimatums, love, indifference, and heaven knows what else. In the end, everything you may have tried seems to just end up blowing up in your face and nothing can derail your loved one bent on following nothing but their cravings and compulsions.
So what else can you do? How can you make them stop their dangerous, downward spiral? How can you make them stop using or drinking?
Well, the answer is, you can’t. You can’t control them. However, you can help motivate them so that they can finally see for themselves that there really is something wrong with the way they live their lives, that addiction has taken hold of them.
Here’s what you can do to help make your loved one go to rehab.
How can you make a loved one go to rehab?
1. Show you care. Dealing with your loved one’s addiction day in and day out–it can take a huge toll on you. It can make you angry and desperate, and during moments like this, care and empathy may be the last thing you have for them.
However, if you really want to help them, you have to set aside your own negative feelings. You have to be able to have a sensible, positive conversation with them by showing that you care instead of criticizing and blaming.
2. Draw that line in the sand. This could just be the best decision you can make for yourself and your loved one–set boundaries. Healthy ones.
This helps put things into perspective and allow your life to have some semblance of sanity despite the chaos addiction brings. Create healthy boundaries so that you don’t lose yourself in the process of helping your loved one.
3. Make them take ownership. A person who is struggling with addiction may find it hard to take ownership of their actions. However, this is necessary if there’s going to be change for the better. They have to see that the only way for things to get better is if they take responsibilities for their actions, even if it means they have to suffer the blows.
4. Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. This is has been a very difficult time for you and your loved one, and you need all the support you can get. Have your own support system to help you through these troubling times.
As for your loved one, while it’s only them that can change for the better, it would help if they are also surrounded with their own support system and a team of professionals.
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