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Be compassionate, be patient -- but be
willing to act. Experience proves that preaching does
not work. A nudge or a push in the form of an intervention at the right time can help. It also
shows that you care. Push may even come to shove when
the person with alcohol or other drug troubles must
choose between losing family or job, or going to
treatment. Thousands of alcohol and other drug abusers
have been helped when a spouse, employer, or court
official made treatment a condition of continuing family
relationships, job, or probation.
You cannot cure the illness, but when the crucial moment
comes you can guide the person to competent help.
Treatment attempts to discover the relationship between
a person's problematic drinking and other drug use to
their real needs -- an understanding of what they would
really strive for it they were not disabled by their
problems. One goal is building up their capacity for
control which becomes possible in periods of sobriety.
Persons with drinking and other drug problems have the
same needs as all other people -- food, clothing,
shelter, health care, job, social contact and acceptance
and, particularly, the need for self-confidence and
feelings of competence, self-worth, and dignity. This is
where "support" comes in.
What may be needed in most is warm, human concern. The
kinds of support given depend, of course, on finding out
from the person what they feel they need. Strained
family and friend relationships, money troubles, worry
about the job or business, sometimes matters that may
seem trivial to us, all confuse their file situation and
may contribute to their drinking and other drug
problems.
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