Do you have a loved one who has gone quiet during this pandemic and now you suspect they keep secrets from you and hide what they do? If you feel yourself drifting from a loved one it might because they are exhibiting signs of opioid use.
Here’s everything you need to know about how you can stop opioid addiction in your friends and get them back on the straight and narrow.
1. Telling Lies
One of the key ways you can tell about signs of opioid use is if they start telling lies. If your friends or loved ones start telling obvious untruths about where they have been, who they have been hanging with, or what they do with their spare time then you know something might be up with them.
They might be telling lies because they feel that you would be embarrassed by the extent of their opioid behavior. But they also might be telling lies because they can’t admit it to themselves.
Admitting the fact they have an addiction can be problematic as it means they have to admit their flaws and that they might potentially need serious help.
However, getting your loved ones to admit their problem is the first step towards recovery.
Don’t facilitate your loved ones’ live, call them out on them. Find the evidence that they have been lying and ask them why they lied? Posit the idea that they are taking drugs and see how they react. Be careful to assure them that you will support them no matter what they tell you.
2. Hiding Use Of It
You don’t have to tell lies to hide your use of opioids. A loved one could just be omitting the fact they use opioids from you.
You need to confront them about this and to do that you need direct evidence that they are using them. If you don’t have this evidence they could easily turn this around and claim you are making unfounded accusations against them, a chance to shut you down.
See if you can conduct some low key surveillance on them or think of ways you can obtain this evidence from them. You could enquire with their friends and family or see if you can find needles or other equipment that could prove their drug use.
Meeting with Other Concerned Parties
Another step you can take is to arrange a meeting with other concerned parties to see if they can are any of the wiser about your loved ones’ drug addictions.
If they have their suspicions too then it can help you all to coordinate to see whether you can pool information and come up with a strategy to help your loved one out.
Meeting with other concerned parties all gives you a chance to get some moral support for what must surely be a difficult issue to cope with.
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, this might be hard to do so you can meet online instead.
One of the solutions you might want to consider is the online option for Suboxone which can be a way of coxing your loved one of the drug.
3. Disappearing For Long Periods of Time
Does your loved one disappear for long periods of time? In a pandemic, it can be easy to lose touch with people as we can’t meet face-to-face.
But if they are not checking in with you regularly then you might start to worry that they have slipped into taking opioids or serious opioid abuse. Opioid addiction has become sadly more common during the pandemic.
If you ring them at multiple times of the day and they don’t answer multiple times then you might feel that there is a problem.
If you can meet up with your loved one but they don’t show up or its weeks between each meeting and you see no evidence of them having much of a social life then it might be time for you to stage an intervention or to confront them about the activities.
Remember you need to act as a support for your loved ones and not as an irritated
4. Irritable
Is your loved one irritable? Are they increasingly angry towards you for no apparent reason? This can be very sad and you might wonder what the matter is.
They might be having issues with drugs which can cause mood swings and inevitably they feel angry when they cannot get their fix.
Being irritable on a one-off occasion is normal but if they are like this all the time then they might have a problem that is worthy of further investigation.
If they snap at you for asking reasonable questions you need to have an honest discussion with them as to why this is the case.
Remember that not all is lost. Shows like MTV’s 16 and Recovering offer hope and show that even teenagers seemingly lost can get back on the straight and narrow.
5. Lack of Comittemenet to Friends and Family
If your loved one has a lack of commitment to friends and family then this can cause problems too. They might keep turning down appointments to meet up with you and other family members at the last minute.
How do you overcome this? Talk to other people and find out if they are doing it to their family members and friends or if it is just you they keep canceling on. Do they miss birthdays and other important events?
All these are signs that they might be struggling with opioid abuse or opioid addiction.
Signs of Opioid Use? Be a Supportive Person
If you believe your loved one is exhibiting signs of opioid use then the best thing you can is to be a supportive person. Be on the lookout for signs they are using such as the fact they are irritable, secretive or they keep canceling plans.
Don’t make excuses for them but make sure they know you are there for them in this time of need if and when they want to admit to their opioid abuse.
If you are interested in reading more about how to spot signs of opioid use then be sure to check out the rest of our site.
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