From denial to dealing with addiction
For some reason, families always think of playing a passive role in one's addiction story. The family members tend to believe or rather wish to believe that they have nothing to do with it and they are just the "recipients" of the bad news -- as this stance, frees them from any responsibility.
Time to burst that bubble now - like it or not, a family has a huge role to play in one's course of initiation and development of addiction and its resolve.
But even after the truth has revealed itself in its barest form as they witness their loved one's addicted situation, it takes a while for the family members to get into action on taking appropriate measures to restrict the damage.
"This cannot happen to us" or "this cannot happen to my child or my brother or my sister or my parent" or "this has never happened in my entire family history" - such irrational beliefs prevent them from accepting the reality and cause delays in seeking help.
The thought which says, 'something (so terrible) cannot happen to me or my loved one, is the sole cause of what is called as "optimism bias" which is defined as "a cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they are less likely to experience a negative event". Also known as unrealistic optimism or comparative optimism, it makes one overestimate the probability of positive events and underestimate the probability of negative events happening to them in the future.
One can see the optimism bias working full-fledged in addiction scenario where one wants to keep believing that they (themselves or their beloveds) are beyond the clutches of something as terrible as addiction and hence stay least prepared if not at all, to face it. No one is immune or insusceptible to the wrath of drug addiction.
When you as a parent or a sibling can identify that something is not right with your loved one, or you start identifying the signs of them getting affected as their daily functioning is impacted, please know that the condition has already landed in its critical stage where seeking help is crucial. Any further delay means inviting more troubles and making the status even more grave.
A stitch in time, saves nine. Act timely, before it is too late for your loved one because that will be the real gesture of true love and genuine care towards them and that is exactly what they need at that point of time in their life.
Dr Sat Parkash is a drug rehab specialist and the Director of Prottoy Medical Clinic Ltd., Dhaka.
E-mail: [email protected]
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