Living with someone with an addiction can be filled with stress and uncertainty. But how do you know if the frustration, erupting emotions, stress or uncertainty is originating from an addiction? Signs a loved one may have an addiction:
Has your loved one become a little more secretive?
Have you seen a loss of interest in pleasurable hobbies?
Has money gone missing or do you see unexplainable expenses?
Do you see changes in their weight? Are they getting really thin?
Are you noticing outbursts, like anger?
Do you see changes in their patterns? Are there things they used to enjoy doing before and now don’t? For example, if your loved one used to enjoy rock climbing - but now doesn’t enjoy it, or doesn’t seem interested. Or maybe they enjoyed cooking, but now they are not doing anything in the kitchen.
If you are seeing even two of these symptoms from a loved one, consider talking to a substance abuse counselor or professional yourself. Why? So you can reach out and get the support and skills to:
Have an intervention, or at the very least a conversation
Start to build the framework of what it looks like to get treatment - so when that conversation comes up you can talk to them about what’s involved.
These skills can help you talk to your loved one.
For example, a spouse could say, “I’m worried, but I’m not an expert. Let’s talk to someone who is an expert and then decide.” Having already talked to a caring addiction counselor beforehand, the spouse is now prepared for the next step to help their loved one.
If you are concerned and want to know if a loved one has an addiction, give Care Addiction Center a call at: (630) 402-0144.