| A drug crisis intervention or drug abuse intervention is | | | | and friends make the addict fully realize the extent |
| a process where the family or close friends of a | | | | of his addiction and encourage him to seek |
| person who has a drug addiction problem confront | | | | professional treatment. In most cases, a |
| him and talk to him about the detrimental effects of | | | | pre-treatment intervention involves meeting up with |
| his addiction, both to himself and the people around | | | | a counsellor before the actual intervention happens. |
| him. There are several ways to conduct a drug crisis | | | | The counsellor informs concerned family and friends |
| intervention. There are some who seek the help of | | | | that the intervention should be delivered in such a |
| professionals and ask them for advice on how to | | | | way that the addict will understand how his addiction |
| deal with the addiction. | | | | is affecting his life and the lives of people around him. |
| There are also brief drug crisis interventions that | | | | It should be delivered in a non-confrontational |
| involve several counselling sessions with a professional | | | | manner; the one doing the intervention should keep |
| where they talk about the effects of alcohol on | | | | his or her emotions neutral. |
| drugs to the body, general health of the individual, as | | | | Empathy is very important in drug intervention |
| well as his relationships with the people who are | | | | programs, as the addict will easily open up to those |
| important to him. Counselling sessions also involve | | | | who know exactly what he is going through. So |
| setting a goal for the individual to overcome his | | | | those who have previous experiences with drug use |
| addiction. The effectiveness of a drug crisis | | | | can share their experiences as well. |
| intervention is not the same in all cases as there are | | | | For a drug addiction intervention to be successful, the |
| some people whose addiction has gone overboard | | | | intervention should include: discussing of the |
| and are completely dependent on the substances | | | | detrimental effects of prescription drugs, pointing out |
| they use. In such cases, more extreme measures | | | | the signs and symptoms of substance abuse, |
| might be necessary to help the individual overcome | | | | recognizing the individual's drug addiction and then |
| his addiction. | | | | giving him tips on how to combat this addiction. It is |
| When doing a drug addict intervention, one must | | | | highly recommended to encourage the addict to seek |
| make sure that the interventions are non-judgmental, | | | | professional help at the earliest possible stage of the |
| non-confrontational and supportive as some addicts | | | | addiction. |
| do not fully realize the extent of their addiction and | | | | Drug addiction can become harder to combat in the |
| once they come to the realization that their drug use | | | | long run and the withdrawal symptoms of some |
| has gone overboard, they might feel ashamed to | | | | drugs can be terribly painful. Individuals who have a |
| admit it. | | | | long history of drug abuse should be encouraged to |
| In cases where the addiction has become completely | | | | confine themselves to drug rehabilitation centres in |
| out of control, a pre-treatment drug crisis | | | | order to get rid of the addiction permanently. |
| intervention may be necessary where close family | | | | |