Drug use and abuse, from opioid to alcohol addiction, is a challenge for many families across the globe. The United Nations Office On Drugs And Crime (UNODC) estimates that over 35 million people suffer from substance use disorder. Addiction treatment centers, like Altitude Recovery Community, are vital in helping someone in recovery. 

You can help someone who is in recovery by actively listening to them, appreciating their successes, avoiding arguments, and encouraging them when they are discouraged. You should also be patient, learn about addiction, take a break when overwhelmed, and seek help from drug treatment centers. 

Addiction is complex. Its severity varies from person to person. However, overcoming addiction is challenging for everyone with a substance use disorder. Sometimes, it feels like taking two steps forward and one step back. This is a lifetime commitment, and your loved one needs encouragement with every step they take. 

How To Motivate Someone Recovering From Addiction

Drug addiction recovery is bittersweet for most people. For affected family members and friends, there is the hope that the person with drug addiction returns to who they once were. 

For the person with an addiction, it is a chance to get their life back on track and regain the love and trust they may have lost from their loved ones. Unfortunately, this journey can be quite bumpy. 

Drug addiction tends to make someone self-centered, and this will test your patience and resilience. Fortunately, with your support, someone with an alcohol addiction can recover.

You can motivate them in multiple ways.

  • Encourage them to join a recovery community. Hearing from other people in recovery is important for someone recovering from addiction. Support from family and friends is essential, but only a recovering addict truly understands the highs and lows of addiction recovery. Fortunately, many options exist today, from AA recovery meetings to online social media addict recovery communities. 
  • Help them set short and long-term goals. Addiction recovery is a day-at-a-time process. Some days are good, and some are not too good. What’s important is moving forward. Setting achievable and measurable targets is great for keeping someone in addiction recovery on the right path. 
  • Keep a journal with gratitude lists. The addiction recovery journey isn’t smooth. There are good and bad days, and the addict needs something to keep them going. A gratitude list will help them overcome the challenges and keep them from relapsing.
  • Seek support from addiction treatment centers. Drug rehab centers have professionals who understand how to maneuver the challenges that addicts in recovery face. These centers have addiction recovery programs that are beneficial to someone in recovery.
  • Offer the addict a structured life. Having a schedule is important for someone in recovery because they have something to do, and they also get to discover new activities that they enjoy. These activities can also help someone in addiction set new goals. 

When helping a person in drug addiction recovery, ensure you don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take time out to go for a walk or spend time with friends. This time away will help you refocus and even appreciate that addiction has its setbacks, and all you can do is support an addict in recovery, even through the difficulties.