How can we take care of our mental and physical well-being during the treatment process?
Self-care is very important. Try to take care of your physical health. Have a good diet, get some good exercise, and maybe seek some counselling or some support for yourself during this process. Have an open dialogue with the rest of the family system and all the other friends in the system. And like I said before, education about substance use disorder can be very important. So, make sure you understand the risks of different substances. You understand the effects, you understand the recovery pathways. All these things can make the connection with the person of concern better, and sometimes they can ease anxiety. The more you know about the substance and its impact, the more it can ease anxiety.
How can family members support relatives who are dealing with substance use disorder?
Just be gentle with them. It's changing. Behaviour is very, very difficult. And there's going to be ups and downs on the road. And you want to create an atmosphere where, if they do hit a bump, they feel comfortable in telling you that you're not going to judge them, panic, or overreact. So you just have to be really calm and support them in the here and now and in the days and weeks after the relapse so they can really bounce back and learn from it.
What's your advice for loved ones when someone experiences a relapse?
I think we should respond to relapse with love, compassion, understanding, and support. We have to create an environment where the person of concern knows that if they have relapsed, nobody's going to panic. Nobody's going to stop loving them. Nobody's going to think that this is a failure. Often, a relapse is part of the recovery journey, and the learning that we can get from a relapse can reinforce recovery moving forward. So compassion, love, and support.