When family and friends participate in the recovery program, they learn how to stop enabling. Enabling is acting in ways that essentially help or encourage the person to maintain their habit of drinking or getting high. For instance, a woman whose husband routinely drinks too much, might call in sick for him when he is too drunk to go to work. That's enabling. Likewise, family members or friends might give an addict money which is used to buy drugs, because they’re either sorry for him or afraid of him. That’s enabling also.

If you’re wondering how else you can help an addict or an alcoholic in your life, visit us at Access Hospital Dayton and check out the website besmartbewell.com for resources to help the loved ones in your life and remember these important approaches. 

• Treat it like a Disease
  Addiction is a brain disease. The best way to help an addict or help an alcoholic is to remember that addiction changes the way the brain works, and it’s the disease causing the person to behave in harmful or hurtful ways. By viewing addiction as a disease, loved ones can better see the problem for what it is and help the addict get the care he or she needs on the road to addiction recovery.
• Lose the Stigma, Lose the Shame
  Too many people delay or avoid seeking addiction treatment because they are ashamed to identify themselves or their loved one as an addict. If you want to help an addict or help an alcoholic, remember that addiction is a disease. An addict is not a person with a weakness, but a person with a disease.
• Seek Treatment
  Addiction cannot be cured, but it can be managed. This is similar to how asthma can be managed but not cured. It’s important to remember, however, that most people cannot overcome addiction on their own. They need addiction treatment .
  Addiction treatment helps addicts change their behaviors as they pursue addiction recovery. It also provides them with coping mechanisms for handling stress and situations that might trigger a drug craving. Addiction treatment may include medication, individual therapy, group therapy and/or family therapy. Under certain circumstances, addiction treatment and recovery requires admission to a hospital, addiction facility or outpatient program.
• Don't Despair if Relapse Occurs
  Treatment for addiction is not the same as a cure for addiction. Addiction is a chronic, lifelong disease. Like any chronic disease that requires lifestyle changes, the relapse rates for addiction are high—with as many as half of addicts relapsing after one year. For many, relapse is simply part of the overall treatment process.
  However sad or frustrating relapse can be for friends and family members who have invested time, energy, and emotion into helping their loved ones attempt to get their lives back on track; relapse does not mean a person will never become sober or that addiction recovery is impossible. Relapse simply means that further treatment and support are needed.
• Be in it for the Long Haul
  In order to help an addict or alcoholic stay sober, loved ones must commit to providing long-term support. The pull of drugs or alcohol will always be there, and the addict must work over the course of his or her life to fight the urges and behaviors that first led to drug use, and avoid the social situations and stressors that trigger the urge for drug use.
  Rest assured, though, that the longer a person stays sober after treatment, the more likely that he or she will be able to maintain long-term sobriety. With your support and care from experts, addiction recovery can become a reality in someone’s life.
• Learn the Signs of Relapse 
  The informative website lists the following as signs or symptoms of relapse:
  Romanticizing or longing for the old days
  Believing they are strong enough to use again without falling back into addiction
  Starting to reconnect with old friends from addiction days
  Becoming defensive and no longer able to accept constructive criticism
  Beginning the pattern of denial that was present during the addiction
  Changes in attitude or behavior
  Sudden feelings of depression and loneliness
  Breaking down of social relationships
  Feelings of extreme stress and tension
  Representing those who are trying to help
  Withdrawal symptoms suddenly start to reappear
  Loss of belief in addiction recovery programming and counseling