Addiction is not an easy thing to deal with, and one of the more difficult aspects is knowing when to ask for help with addiction issues. It’s not like asking for directions (which many people find difficult to do), and it’s not like asking for financial help, which almost no one is comfortable doing—it’s much worse.
Knowing When to ask for help With Addiction Is Difficult
As we’ve already stated, asking for help with addiction is one of the most difficult parts of dealing with the problem. But don’t wait until the grim reaper is knocking on your door.
With most other diseases, there is no reluctance to seek help. If you suspect your arteries might be clogged, you go to a cardiologist. If your blood sugar is high, you seek advice from an endocrinologist. If you have trouble urinating, you find a urologist. So why is it so difficult to ask for help with addiction?
The Reason or Reasons Why
One of the reasons why is because you’re dealing with addicts—people who are not prone to rational behavior. Because of that, there can be years—sometimes decades—of denial. Lying to your families, your employers and, more often than not, yourselves. To quote one addict:
“I spent the better part of a decade, walking past every mirror with my head hung in shame, afraid that I might catch a glimpse of what I knew I had become.
When I finally went to treatment, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. No more lies. No more stories to keep up, and no more hiding from what I was.”
It’s a small but vital part of the process—asking for help, admitting that you are an addict. That serves as the foundation on which a person is able to build their future as a sober person. It’s what makes the system work.
At Into Action Recovery Centers, the staff is comprised of people in recovery themselves. We find that asking for help becomes a lot easier when you are sitting across from someone who has traveled the same road you have. Oftentimes, the darkest corners of our past become beacons of hope for those we might help in the future.
I wouldn’t say it’s never too late to ask for help, but it’s getting close to crossing the line if you’re sitting in the hospital with a bad liver or failed kidneys. Get help before you fall that far. Get help while you can still enjoy life.
The following is from the National Institute on Drug Abuse regarding when and how to ask for help with addiction.
“Asking for help is the first important step. Visiting your doctor for a possible referral to treatment is one way to do it. You can ask if he or she is comfortable discussing drug abuse screening and treatment. If not, ask for a referral to another doctor. You can also contact an addiction specialist. There are 3,500 board-certified physicians who specialize in addiction in the United States. The American Society of Addiction Medicine website has a Find a Physician feature on its home page. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry also has a Patient Referral Program.”
It takes a lot of courage to seek help for a drug problem. Not just because of the embarrassment, but also because the addict knows there is a lot of work to be done.
Hard work combined with treatment does work, though. People recover from addiction every day and they go on to live normal, healthy, happy lives. The proper treatment allows people to deal with addiction’s disruptive effects on the brain and it allows them to take control of their lives once again.
So for those who want to know when is the right time to ask for help with addiction—the answer is now. Do it before it becomes too late.
Give us a call at 844-694-3576 or ask us a question through our confidential form.
