How Do I Know If I Need to Call a Drug or Alcohol Interventionist in Toronto, Ontario

10 Mar How Do I Know If I Need to Call a Drug or Alcohol Interventionist in Toronto, Ontario

What is an Intervention?

An intervention is a carefully organized plan that is designed to help an individual to recognize that their addiction and the behaviour they exhibit as a result has an impact on not only themselves but the people around them. Typically, a intervention involves the participation of close family and friends to come together and work with the intervention specialist to articulate just how impactful an individuals addiction is. During the intervention, loved ones come together to express their concerns and the consequences that have unfolded because of the individuals actions, with the hopes to encourage them to recognize their behaviour and to accept help.

Key aspects of an intervention will include:

• Providing specific examples of how the individuals behaviour has negatively impacted those around them.
• Presenting clear and concise treatment plans that outline the specific steps and expectations of the individual if they were to accept the help they are being offered.
• Establishing clear boundaries by explaining to your loved what actions will be taken if they were to refuse to accept treatment.

Interventions in Toronto

Why does it take so long for someone to get help from a professional? Many individuals struggle to admit they have a substance abuse problem. Denial can influence how individuals perceive the severity of their alcohol or substance abuse. One way to address the denial is through an intervention. During an intervention, the person battling with the addiction and their loved ones can come together in an open and honest manner to talk about how the addiction has impacted everyone involved, with the help of a neutral third party. If an intervention has been executed effectively, the intervention has the potential to change the course of someones life. Intervention is a pivotal step toward someone getting the help they urgently need. However, interventions can sometimes lead to defensiveness, which is why choosing the right intervention specialist or recovery coach is crucial to supporting your loved one on their path to recovery.

How do I know if it’s the right time for an intervention? Toronto

A key aspect of interventions is timing. It is easy to postpone an intervention for fear of upsetting or even worsening the habits, of the addict in question. Furthermore, the fact that you love and care for the person who is suffering makes it even more difficult for you and those who also want to intervene to broach the topic of getting help for an addiction.

However, it is integral to remember that in the long run, intervention could save your loved one’s life. Although it may be difficult to accept and undergo.

The following are some of the main signs that an intervention is needed:

• Secretive behaviour
• Borrowing lots of money
• Legal or financial problems
• Frequent aggression
• Mood swings
• Distancing from people
• Deteriorating appearance
• Issues at work/school
• Health problems
• Building tolerance to substances

Important to Know About Interventions

Ultimately, there are 5 important things to know at all times about an intervention.

They are as follows:

1. An intervention is a strategic plan to help a loved one to seek treatment for their addiction or mental health issues.
2. The goal of the intervention is to ensure the person who is addicted gets the proper help and support they need to be successful long term.
3. An intervention is not to attack, shame, judge, or blame the person for their past behaviours on drugs or alcohol.
4. The Intervention is all about creating a safe, loving, and healthy environment for all that are participating in the intervention.
5. Interventions can be really emotional, chaotic, argumentative, and difficult, but they are worth it in the long run, once the person suffering from addiction accepts help.

How Does an Addiction Intervention Work?

An intervention is essentially the gathering of family, friends, or colleagues, to conduct a conversation with the presence of the individual struggling with addiction and ideally being led by a professional addiction counsellor. The counsellor plays a crucial role in facilitating the meeting, ensuring that emotions remain calm and collected so the conversation stays productive. The intervention specialist helps prevent emotional outbursts on both sides, which in turn creates an environment where meaningful conversations can occur.

A professionally managed intervention will often encourage the individual battling the addiction to take their loved ones seriously during this discussion. The primary and most important goal is to help your loved one understand the seriousness of the health consequences from their addiction and to recognize that substance abuse and or alcoholism is a medical condition that requires proper treatment just like any other illness.

What are the Stages of Addiction? Toronto, Ontario

Understanding the cycle of addiction is the easier part, actually breaking the cycle of your addiction is the tough part.

There are 6 stages in the cycle of addiction:

1. Initial Use
2. Abuse
3. Tolerance
4. Dependence
5. Addiction
6. Relapse

Initial Use

There are many motivations behind an individual’s initial use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances. Sometimes, all it takes is one experience or moment that can change the trajectory of someones path toward addiction. This first exposure might happen at a party, through peer pressure, a medical prescription, family influences, or other circumstances. People often turn to substances to manage pain or avoid the challenges of ones daily life. Whatever the reason, the first use can trigger a cycle of dependancy. The initial effects of drugs often produce feelings of euphoria, which can leave the individual wanting to recreate that sensation. This pursuit of the same high can quickly lead to repeated use and the progression toward addiction.

Abuse

The next stage is substance abuse. At this point, a person continues to use drugs or alcohol regularly to maintain feelings of euphoria, escape daily struggles, or manage pain. However, this repeated use causes more harm than relief. For example, someone prescribed medication for pain might begin increasing their dosage without medical guidance to achieve greater effects. Over time, the may consume higher amounts in an attempt to recreate the initial feeling, which is no longer attainable. This marks a shift into a lifestyle dominated by substance use. When an individual starts taking larger doses to achieve the same effect, it indicates that their tolerance has increased. This is a key milestone in the progression toward addiction, leading to the next stage.

Tolerance

At this stage of addiction, the individual has been using drugs or alcohol regularly for an extending period, causing their brain to adapt to the substances. This adaptation alters the brains tolerance levels, reducing the production of dopamine to below its initial levels. As a result, the individual no longer experiences the same euphoric effects they once did. To compensate they may increase both frequency and amount of their substance use in an effort to regain that lost feeling of euphoria. Over time, this cycle of escalating use creates a tolerance loop, where higher doses are continually needed to achieve even a fraction of the desired effect.

In some cases, individuals may turn to stronger substances, such as cocaine, to counteract their increasing tolerance levels. This shift will often lean to continued neurological changes, which includes the loss of chemical receptors in the brain. Without the substance that the body has begun to rely on, the individual may feel depressed because their brain may struggle to regulate its own dopamine production. This further escalates their dependancy on the substance.

Dependence

Over time, an individual’s brain and body may come reliant on drugs or alcohol to function normally throughout the day. At this stage, it becomes difficult for them to find joy or satisfaction without the effects from the substances.  When dependance develops, the person may begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms if they go without the substance their body now relies on. To avoid or alleviate these symptoms, individuals may increase their usage, creating a temporary sense of relief. However, this only intensifies the withdrawal symptoms over time, further deepening the cycle of dependance and addiction.

Addiction

Once addiction is reached in the cycle of addiction, it is one of the last stages and the individual realizes that they have a problem of drug or alcohol abuse. At this point, every aspect of an addict’s life is affected by their drug or alcohol addiction. In addition, the individual will:

• Use more drugs or alcohol
• Go through withdrawal symptoms
• Increase their tolerance exponentially
• Using drugs or alcohol in inappropriate or dangerous atmospheres
• Abusing substances when it is causing problems in their relationships
• Abusing substances when it is causing health issues
• Instead of participating in activities, using becomes the activity

If an individual is experiencing these symptoms they indeed are experiencing addiction.

Relapse

Relapse is the last stage of addiction. This can occur after an addict has received intervention and addiction treatment by going to rehab for their drug and alcohol abuse. Relapse can also occur while attempting to get sober as they succumb to the withdrawal symptoms to the point of extreme where they can not resist seeking out substances to alleviate the pain of withdrawal. Relapsing will lead to a return to the dependent stage in the cycle of addiction and is also the stage where addicts are obstructed from achieving sobriety and long-term recovery.

Why Can’t You Just Stop Using Drugs? Toronto, Ontario

While some individuals manage to achieve sobriety on their own, many attempts at quitting drugs or alcohol will result in relapse. This is largely due to the long-term effects that addiction has on the brain. Substance use will cause significant changes in brain chemistry, and these changes can persist even after someone stops using the substance. One major consequence of these changes is a reduced ability to control impulses related to drug use and the cravings that accompany it. This lack of impulse control makes relapse a common concern during the journey to sobriety. These brain changes often make it extremely difficult to quit without additional support like interventions, treatment, and encouragement from loved ones. These further emphasizes the importance of having a strong support system and specialized care when working toward recovery.

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An intervention is not about how to control the substance user; it is about how to let go of believing you can. Our professional addiction therapists and interventionists at Andy Bhatti Interventions and Addiction Services work closely with families to reach a successful intervention.

FOR IMMEDIATE HELP – CALL US NOW 1-888-963-9116