Addiction is an incredibly personal battle that will require everything that an addict has to fight. For this reason, it is usually very beneficial for a strong support system to be there to help them in this journey towards a complete recovery. Family is inherently a great place for this support system to stem from. It is hard to find a group of people who are devoted to you and love you so unconditionally that they would stand by your side in even the most trying of times. However, not everybody has the luxury of this built-in support structure. This may be for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, a person may not have any surviving family around them, or perhaps their family has turned their backs on them during this time. However, not all is lost. While the fight may be hard, there is a way to beat addiction, even for those who don’t have the benefit of a family to support them…
It’s important to build your own “family”
Even if a person doesn’t have a family that is readily available or willing to support them, they still need a support system. However, the people who are close to you in life don’t necessarily need to be those that you are related to by blood. We all have the option to build our own surrogate “family”, or a family of our choosing. These can be close friends who have been with you for years, through thick or thin, or even the group of people that you meet in recovery and treatment groups.
Addiction is not a disease you can face alone
The classic cliche of addiction is that addicts think that they can stop any time they want to. Obviously, this is not the case. Addiction is a disease that can alter your perception of your situation. It can give you the illusion that you have a degree of independence from your condition. The truth is that addiction is incredibly difficult to face by yourself. Even as you feel alone in the world, it is important to remember that you need the help of other people to help get you back on your feet.
Not everyone has the same level of support
As stated before, it’s important to remember that not everyone has the same levels of support, when it comes to fighting addiction. Be mindful of this, and always remember to be kind and considerate to those who are struggling with substance abuse. A kind and helping hand can go a lot farther than you think in the fight against addiction.