Having a daughter addicted to drugs or alcohol is painful for any parent. Throughout a child’s life, parents feel responsible for the choices they make regarding their children. Every good parent wants their child to remain safe and happy, but they are at a loss about how to help them when they’re addicted to drugs or alcohol.
It’s normal to go through a series of terrifying emotions and to blame yourself when such happens. You may also feel angry and disappointed in your child. However, this mix of feelings won’t help your daughter addicted to drugs or alcohol. The emotions will only cause more harm than good to your mental and physical health in the long run.
This post helps you answer the question, ” My daughter is addicted to drugs; how can I help her?” It’s also essential to take care of your emotional and mental health when trying to help your daughter. With this in mind, keep reading for insights.
Avoid the Blame Game
As a parent, it’s easy to blame yourself for your daughter’s behavior, thinking you didn’t do enough to prevent it from happening. Addiction isn’t a disease but a choice people make consciously or otherwise.
It can happen to anyone at any age, regardless of their gender or upbringing. It’s also crucial that you don’t blame your child for the route they’ve taken but instead look for ways to help.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says that family members have a role in motivating a loved one to get and stay in treatment. Family involvement can also strengthen and extend the benefits of treatment. When you’re involved in your daughter’s recovery process, you increase her chances of being successful in the future.
Be Willing to Acknowledge the Problem
Initially, it can be hard to accept or even imagine that your daughter is abusing drugs. Denial tends to come at the beginning, because it’s the natural thing to do. Acknowledging the problem would also cause many parents to blame themselves, but that should not be the case.
Realizing and accepting that your child has a drug addiction problem is a good starting point to help you recognize how the addiction affects them. First, your child’s whole life becomes absorbed by substance abuse. They may spend time seeking, using, and trying to recover from drugs, which in turn causes them to distance themselves from you and the other family members. Everyday conversations, old friends, family time together, and activities they once loved have become a thing of the past.
This is the typical behavior of a person or child addicted to drugs. Over time, the addiction takes over their lives, and prioritizing life’s obligations becomes difficult. Once you understand all this, you’ll realize that your daughter can’t overcome the situation on her own and needs help.
Create an Open Line of Communication
Your daughter’s addiction will probably challenge you and your spouse. You might also find that you begin to question each other, given your daughter’s withdrawal from everyday communication.
Fighting each other will only enable your daughter’s behavior, creating an urge in her to reach for the next high. Eventually, the entire cycle will only put a strain on your family and hurt you more.
Instead of fighting, create an open line of communication. Agree with your partner on the best way to deal with this reality is to help your child. Things to discuss with your spouse include:
- How to support each other during this time
- How to stick together on your stance with your child
- Researching effective ways to help and joining support groups within your community
- The best ways to support your child and the rest of the family during this time
- How to best intervene
- The boundaries you need to put in place in dealing with your daughter’s addiction.
An open line of communication also applies to your daughter. Talk to her and let her know you’re there to support her as she tries to quit drugs. Tell her that she can talk to you, and you’ll be there to listen without judgment. You’ll probably find that she wants to talk to you but fears your reaction. Find a quiet place to talk, ask open-ended questions, and avoid being emotional or negative.
Seek Professional Addiction Treatment Help
Due to the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain, it’s quite a challenge to quit cold turkey. It is why your addicted daughter would benefit from professional intervention and long-term therapy to come out of it.
Admitting that you can’t help your daughter out of the addiction by yourself is a crucial step towards her healing. Seeking external help goes a long way in keeping your family together and helping you maintain your sanity.
Medical intervention will help you get an accurate diagnosis of your daughter’s addiction. You might be surprised to discover an underlying mental health issue behind the addiction.
An advantage of getting your child into therapy or a residential drug rehabilitation center is that you’ll get a complete picture of her mental health. In the case of dual diagnosis, your child can get help for all conditions simultaneously.
Look for a women’s drug treatment center that provides dual diagnosis treatment for women in Orange County. You’ll realize such a facility is best suited to help women who suffer from alcohol and drug addiction.
Your daughter will find support and comfort in knowing she’s not alone in her recovery journey. Help her find out what to expect while at the center and how it will fully cater to her needs, setting her up for success.
What to Do If Your Daughter Is Addicted
Living with a daughter addicted to drugs and alcohol can take a toll on your mental health and the quality of your relationships within the family. However, you must remain positive throughout the journey and find professional help for addiction treatment.
At Covenant Hills’ women’s treatment center, we are here to provide the professional help you seek. We understand how overwhelming it can be to deal with a child’s addiction.
Our clinical professionals will work with you and your daughter to cope with the effects of drug and substance abuse, even as we try to lead them to recovery. Contact us Today we scheduled a consultation or to learn more about our women’s treatment program.
