English psychotherapist Yvonne Stewart said that the most effective method for drug addicts is a technique called “tough love.” This means that we can tell the addict: “Enough is enough, we refuse to pull you out of the problems you create for yourself, we love you and therefore we tell you: “If you want to suffer, suffer. If you don’t want to, look for a way to escape.”
- Learn to behave in a new way, don’t do for the addict what he should do himself.
- Don’t try to influence his actions or force him to change.
- Instead of changing his actions, try changing your reactions to them.
A memo for a drug addict: “How to help yourself?”
- If you are in doubt about whether to quit or not to quit taking drugs, know that you are already on the road to recovery. Once you have these thoughts, it means that there is a chance to get rid of and free yourself from chemical dependence.
- Remember that a person has his own choice and if you have made a choice in favor of life, we offer you a method (of self-healing) of self-examination – it is called “gaining inner strength”.
The proposed method of self-exploration is “finding inner strength”.
Take a few sheets of paper and a pen:
1) Draw a circle in the middle and inside the circle write “Why do I want to quit taking drugs?”
Start drawing rays from the circle and write the reason why you want to quit drugs on each one. Draw and write until you get a sun.
2) Now choose from the rays the main reason why you need exactly this. For example, if you wrote several reasons: I want to live long, I want to be healthy, I want to get back the girl I love, and choosing the last reason as the main one, write it in the center of the circle and let the rays go from it.
3) Next you draw the third sun and write inside: what good did drugs give me and draw rays.
4) Next you draw the fourth sun and write inside: what bad things the drugs gave me and draw rays.
5) Draw the next sun and a phrase inside: the attitude of relatives and society towards me as a drug addict, what they say and think about this.
6) Inside the sixth sun, write and draw rays: my attitude towards myself.
7) Inside the seventh sun, write and draw rays: what prevents me from quitting drugs, my fears that prevent this.
8) Inside the eighth sun, write and draw rays: what will help me quit drugs (my character traits, other people).
9) Divide the sheet in half and in the left column write in separate lines those phrases where you write about what good drugs gave you. After that, you proceed to the most important thing: write on the right how you can get the same thing in another way, for example, if you wrote on the left that drugs helped you relax, then on the right you write about your other way to relax, for example: I will relax in the bathhouse.
10) Now write out from the seventh sun in the left column on a separate sheet of paper the phrases about what is stopping you from quitting drugs. Write down what you are afraid of in connection with this or in life in general. And now the task is more difficult. In the right column opposite the left phrase you need to write a sentence in a positive key in the present tense as an already existing reality that includes you.
For example, if on the left was: “I’m afraid, I can’t cope”, then on the right you write: “I can cope with this, I’m strong, I can do anything when I want to.”
11) Now fold the sheet in half so that what is on the left remains below and is not visible, read carefully the phrases on the right and choose the one you like the most and let it become your life motto for the near future. Write it out in large letters on a separate sheet and draw any picture you want, as long as it matches your mood today and this phrase. Hang the drawing in the most visible place or, on the contrary, put it in the most secluded place, but you need to read and look at it every day, until what is written and drawn on it becomes reality.
12) And now the last task. Find a quiet, comfortable place for you, close your eyes and pay attention to your breathing, just breathe, without changing the natural rhythm.
Remember the time when you weren’t a drug addict, what you were like, what you looked like, what you dreamed about. Remember some significant moment in your life when you were happy and enjoying life. What did you feel then? What did you want? Dive into these pleasant memories for a while. When you feel that this is enough, switch your attention to your future.
Dream about what you want to be, what kind of people will surround you, what new feelings will arise in your soul? When you manage to do this, stay with it for a while, remember these feelings, then open your eyes and draw what you saw and felt. You can not only draw, but also write down what you felt. For example, joy, lightness, calm. Take a deep breath in and out.
If you have completed all these tasks, then great, but if you have not yet been able to do this or have not completed it, do not despair, it is already good that you have read this, thought about it and simply come into contact with it. If you have a loved one, you can complete this task together. In the future, you can use it throughout your life, when you want to achieve something. It is possible to use the method when your physical condition allows it.