Intervention Assessment

Have you ever truly wondered if you are blowing things out of proportion? When someone is exposed to the destructive and bizarre behaviors of an addict, they tend to be unable to identify or truly make an accurate assessment of the addict’s mental, emotional, spiritual and physical state which are direct results of the user’s drug or alcohol use. When we are unable to admit what is truly happening, we begin to take responsibility or pass the responsibility of the user’s behavior in directions that are the least painful to us. When this is done, we are enabling the addict. Enabling only reinforces the addictive behavior. Ask yourself if you have ever found yourself making these statements:

“Maybe it is me that is making them use.”
“Maybe I’m just reading into things to deeply.”
“Oh, it’s not as bad as I play it out to be.”
“They’re under a lot of stress. I would probably do the same thing!”

If you have found yourself or others making these claims or similar claims when dealing with an addict and their abuse, take an assessment test to truly find out if your loved one has a problem and needs to be intervened upon:

1. Does your loved one look forward to drinking or getting high at the end of the day?
2. Does your loved one brag about their high tolerance to drinking or using drugs and seems to be proud of this ability?
3. Has your loved one ever told you that they are not addicted, that they can control the usage themselves, but you feel that their behavior and actions would say otherwise?
4. Does it appear that it is difficult for your loved one to enjoy themselves in social situations unless they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
5. Does your loved one use drugs or alcohol to help them sleep?
6. Does your loved one fail to keep promises about their ability to control their drug or alcohol use?
7. Has your loved one ever missed work because of drinking, using or hangovers?
8. Does your loved one ever display low self-esteem if not intoxicated?
9. Does your loved one show any signs of paranoia or become overly worried about minor issues?
10. Does your loved one seem to be tired most of the time?
11. Has your loved one ever expressed to you that they use drugs or alcohol to make them “feel better?”
12. Have your ever found yourself defending, making excuses or agreeing to the reasons for which they use?
13. Does your loved one ever say “I apologize. It will never happen again.” Yet the behavior continues?
14. Does your intuition tell you that the information the addict is telling you is wrong?

If you answered “yes” to three or more of the above questions, it is time to take the next step towards helping your loved one. There is hope and there are ways to get around these typical excuses and explanations. The first step is to intervene and stop the destructive path of additive behavior.