09-15-2024 GAR - Flipbook - Page 10
10 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, September 15, 2024
All in the Family
Help for family and friends of those suffering with addiction
By E. Rose Scarff, Contributing Writer
I
t is hard for family members and friends of those
suffering with addiction issues to deal with the change
addiction causes in the behavior
of their loved ones. The fallout
from the addiction may slowly
creep up on the addicted person,
hence, a loved one may become
confused, resentful and angry
over their changes in behavior.
This makes it even more important
to remember that addiction is a disease, and the person afflicted has little control over it. If this person had a
diagnosis of cancer, everyone would
be rallying around them to help.
“No one would ever say to a cancer
patient, well, this is your problem,
you deal with it,” says Marc Dalton, M.D., M.P.H., medical director
for behavioral health at CareFirst
BlueCross BlueShield. “But when it
comes to substance use disorders, it’s
so complicated because there’s a high
emotional and interpersonal toll between certain individuals in the family that affects the whole family and
the friends dynamics as well.”
Dalton goes on to say that in trying
to live with a person caught in addictive behaviors, there is no need to try
to go it alone or reinvent the wheel.
There are many resources available
that can help a loved one learn how
to talk to a person suffering with addiction. They can also learn how to
take care of themselves when dealing
with the resentment and anger they
are feeling over their loved one’s behavior.
This is not to say that all addictions are alike. It is a complicated
problem that is unique to each person and situation. On the milder end
of the scale, a person could be abusing a substance but are not addicted.
This means they don’t have a physiological addiction, but their behaviors
are maladaptive. An example could
be college campus binge drinking on
the weekends.
Not a problem for most people,
but for those who are genetically predisposed, it can lead to a full-blown
addiction and its related problems.
From alcohol abuse to opioids, those
with a predisposition to physiological addiction will need help if they
want to break away from its hold
over them.
When people think of substance
abuse, they usually think of opioids
and fentanyl abuse, but alcohol is
still the most prevalent. Whatever the substance being abused, the
warning signs are often the same. If
a person misses work after a bender,
if they neglect their bills, if their hygiene starts to decline, if their social
circle starts to dwindle, if they start
using their money for the substances
as opposed to using it for the necessary things, if they neglect their kids
or their marriage, if they are neglecting a sport or hobby they used to
be engaged in, all these are warning
signs that there is a problem. But the
biggest sign is if they start to lie to
their loved ones about the amount of
drinking or whatever substance that
they’re doing when it’s brought up to
them.
It is important to remember that
while the person is abusing the substance of their choice, they have
brain dysfunction that impairs judgment. They become disinhibited and
say things they may not mean to
say. It just comes out, which tends
to damage relationships. “Unfortunately, those who take the brunt of it
are the ones that are closest to them,
their spouses, their parents, their
children, their best friends,” say Dalton, “because those are the ones who
are going to try the most actively to
intervene with these individuals.”
All in the family
continued on page 18
