5 Signs You are Enabling an Addict

In efforts to support a struggling addict, loved ones can often make the mistake of enabling an addict and their behavior. You can unintentionally support addiction rather than help find a way out of it. Actions one takes, even though enabling, come from love and concern for your loved one.  To provide the support they need, it’s important to learn what is enabling an addict and how to help an addict without enabling their destructive behavior. Once you know the signs of enabling an addict, you can turn to professionals for guidance and support. Little Creek addiction treatment center in Pennsylvania can be your reliable partner in providing the kind of support your loved one needs. Let’s learn to recognize the signs of enabling behavior and explore effective ways to support your loved one’s recovery without enabling harmful behaviors.

What Is Enabling an Addict?

Enabling itself does not necessarily mean something bad. When we say we enable someone, we might encourage them to meet their needs. This can be a healthy empowerment for someone who does not know how to stand up for themselves. However, when we were talking about enabling an addict, we refer to contributing to them continuing their pathological behavior.

Enabling is typically not intentional. Still, it is harmful and can lead to further progress of addiction and all the negative consequences related to it. Therefore, it’s beneficial to know what the signs are of enabling an addict to react and seek professional help, like partial hospitalization program rehab in Pennsylvania, to support a loved one in overcoming an addiction.

Five Signs You Are Enabling an Addict

Everyone can become blinded by love and care and miss the fact that rather than supporting one’s recovery process, they’re enabling addiction. Here are five typical signs that you are not helping your loved one overcome an addiction 

1. Downplaying or Ignoring the Problem

Minimizing the addiction problem by believing it will simply pass or that your loved one can stop using anytime they want to can only prevent them from taking accountability for their actions. It also prevents them from seeking professional support and starting their recovery process before the deteriorating consequences of addiction start appearing. Overcoming this issue starts by recognizing the problem your loved one is having and its severity.

2. Offering Financial Support

One of the signs of addiction is having financial strain. An addict will spend all their income on their substance of choice, making them late with paying utilities or rent. It might occur to you that by helping them financially you help them start new. 

However, by financially supporting them, you’re doing the opposite. They know they can count on you to cover their bills, so they are not making an effort to do that by themselves but rather spend money on drugs or alcohol. Paradoxically, by trying to help them out, you’re doing them a devil’s favor. 

Additionally, financial means are frequently not required to get rehab. Various insurance providers, such as Aetna rehab coverage, can cover one’s rehab fully or partially, depending on the plan.

3. Making Excuses for Their Behavior

By making excuses for your loved ones’ behavior, you’re giving them the justification to keep behaving like they do. You’re legitimizing their addiction as a coping mechanism and further enabling denial when it comes to facing one’s problems. With a valid enough excuse, an addict will not seek help, as they believe that what they’re doing is just and acceptable. 

On the other hand, an open critique of their behavior can bring about many negative emotions (such as guilt) and prevent them from seeking help. Therefore, finding a balance is important to motivate your loved one to seek professional help.

4. Neglecting Your Own Needs

When caring for others, we can all temporarily neglect our needs. If we’re not mindful of this, it can prolong and result in us feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. Furthermore, in such a state, we’re not able to provide the support our loved ones need but rather need to support ourselves as well. Remember to take care of yourself while taking care of others.

5. Believing You Can Fix the Problem Alone

Support from friends and family is an irreplaceable resource for overcoming addiction. However, it is insufficient as the majority lacks professional knowledge and cannot stay unbiased in the process. Turn to professionals for prescription drug addiction treatment where you can expect expertise, guidance, and genuine care that can help your loved one manage their addiction lifelong.

How to Help an Addict Without Enabling

Mistakes can happen when trying to help someone out. They can often result from your lack of knowledge on how to set personal boundaries or make your loved one take accountability for their life and mistakes. You can always seek support to provide support for someone else. Reaching out to professional facilities is often essential regardless of what addiction is the hardest to overcome.

Rehab Options for Addiction Recovery

Depending on the stage of addiction as well as the severity of such addiction, you might want to suggest to your loved ones certain steps to take. Anyone struggling with an addiction needs to cease using the substance they’re addicted to, which will bring about many withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, the first step in any recovery journey needs to be detox, such as Benzo detox, to set a solid base for further recovery.

The next step is specific treatments, like Pennsylvania opioid treatment programs that rely on evidence-based approaches. At Little Creek Recovery Center, you can count on personalizing the approach that considers one’s needs, circumstances, and preferences and tailors treatments for each specific case.

Holistic Treatment Options for Comprehensive Healing

Helping a loved one recover from addiction involves more than medical treatment; holistic options can support their overall well-being. These therapies focus on the mind, body, and spirit, promoting lasting recovery. Consider these approaches:

• Mindfulness and meditation
• Yoga and fitness therapy
• Nutritional support
• Art and music therapy
• Nature and adventure therapy
• Spiritual and faith-based programs

Seek Support to Provide Support

Helping an addict can truly be a challenge, and by accident, many end up enabling an addict rather than helping them out. Supporting one’s recovery often requires that you have support as well.  You can find such support in professional rehab Reading PA. Reach out to Little Creek Recovery Center to learn about our programs that support addicts and their loved ones throughout the recovery journey.