Article: Carry Bekker from Stepping Stones Addiction Centre
Image: True Love

If one of your friends needed help with anything from illness to moving home you would be able to help... but when a friend shows signs of abusing alcohol or other drugs it sometimes hard to know what to say.

Addiction is more than just a "problem" – it's a medically proven disease, just like any other disease. It is also life threatening.

Most diseases have physical symptoms whereas people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction experience emotional and social symptoms as well. Unlike any other disease people who are addicted often hurt their family, friends, colleagues or themselves.

It's hard to be friends with or talk to someone who is abusing alcohol or drugs and yet this is when they need you most. When deciding whether or not to talk to your friend, you may have reservations. You may think it's none of your business or that you'll only make the situation worse.

Most of us think that talking to someone might ruin the friendship. It might for a while but more often than not the addicted person is secretly hoping that someone will talk to them or save them from themselves.

Statistics show that between 65 – 70% of people get help for their addiction because a friend or relative was honest with them. The remainder feels that they would have got help sooner if someone had spoken to them.

Most of us fear an angry response. Admittedly it is never easy talking about something as sensitive or personal as drinking or drug use. We need to therefore focus on the Behaviour and the Consequences rather than the person.

You may wonder why the family has not addressed the problem if it's so bad. Families tend to ignore or deny the severity of the addiction.

One of the tragedies of addiction is the terrible adjustments family members make to cope with the disease and because of the secrecy involved with addiction, the family don't always know the true extent of the problem. Sadly, sometimes the family are the least able to offer help.

What actually constitutes an addiction?