Struggling with family issues. I just found out my sister is on meth and I don’t know how to support her.
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That sounds like a very stressful situation. How much do you see your sister and how close are the two of you? Are other family members aware/involved? Is she recieving treatment?
No matter the answers, the most important person to take care of in any crisis or difficult situation is yourself. Only if you’re stable and recieving the supports you need then you will be able to help others who are struggling. As the saying goes, put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Can you eat healthy and get movement in each week to keep yourself strong? Are you allowing time for enough sleep? How can you destress each day? Who could you reach out to for extra support?
As for supporting someone with an addiction/substance use disorder, start by learning what you can about the disease. SAMHSA.gov/family has some good resources to start. Other suggestions:
-Find out what might motivate a person to start using and how difficult it can be to stop.
-Make a plan for where to go/who to contact in case of an emergency related to drug use (overdose, aggression/violence).
-Research different options for treatment.
-See if there’s a family support group you could attend.
-Consider counseling for yourself.
-Have compassion for the person. It’s understandable to have anger/strong feelings about the drug use, but try to remember that at this point they are suffering from a cruel disease.
-At the same time, don’t enable use. For someone to make a decision to change, they may need to experience the consequences of their actions.
-Encourage and celebrate any small steps taken toward recovery.
-Remember that recovery is possible.
I know that’s a lot of information and could be overwhelming. So #1 thing to do first: do something to make sure that you are taken care of/supported.
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I’m really sorry to hear this is happening. My brother was a hard user as well, and it was really hard to see him struggle with that. Sometimes we give what we can and that often means loving them, but not assisting them in that path.
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My sister and I don’t see much of each other anymore. Over the past year or so, I’ve had to distance myself away from my family because of toxic behavior. My other sister, mom, and dad are aware of her use. I know she’s gone through a lot that led her to using over the last couple years. Also hanging around people who are involved in those kind of activities. My mom told me about what was going on with my sister and when I burst into tears, she chuckled a bit which made me wonder if she truly even cares.
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