How To Unlearn Feeling Helpless About Your Loved One's Addiction - Episode 74

Chris and Danny discuss overcoming the feeling of helplessness when dealing with addiction, for both addicts and their family members. They emphasize the importance of separating the addiction from the person and recognizing it as an illness rather than a personal issue. Taking small steps such as learning about addiction and seeking help from experienced individuals, can help people regain control and work towards recovery. Effective communication and mindset shifts play a significant role in addressing addiction, and it is crucial to believe change is possible. 

Episode Highlights

• Relating the freeze response to family members struggling with a loved one's addiction and their feeling of being stuck
• The story of Danny dealing with his mother's attempts to manage his addiction and how her eventual withdrawal ultimately led to his treatment
• The concept of Learned Helplessness and its roots in a 1967 study involving dogs and electric shocks
• The discovery that the original Learned Helplessness theory actually has it backwards: We have to learn that we have the power to control outcomes
• Overriding the instinctual drive by looking for small actions that can influence the outcome
• Recognizing the feeling of being stuck and finding small options to get unstuck in relation to dealing with an addicted loved one
• Conventional wisdom in addiction and the importance of seeking help and learning new skills to combat learned helplessness
• Making addiction treatment entirely up to the addicted person, the flawed concept of hitting rock bottom, and the reality of continued use despite negative consequences
• Sharing insights about people in recovery, many of whom were pushed into it by their families
• Addressing the feelings of helplessness, permanence, pervasiveness, and personal responsibility in dealing with a loved one's addiction
• The importance of seeking help from others and avoiding taking personal responsibility for a loved one's addiction
• Learning more about addiction as an illness and separating it from the person in order to find a solution for the problem
• Providing an example of successful detachment from a personal perspective to appropriately address a loved one's addiction
• Developing a skill set to cope with addiction in the family, understanding that it takes work and dedication to reach a level of detachment
• Overcoming feelings of helplessness and understanding that with effort, change is possible
• The power of effective communication and how changing the way things are said can influence a person to seek treatment
• Realizing that addiction is not permanent and sharing examples of countless people who have found recovery
• The simplicity of saying yes to treatment, and how family members' belief in recovery can make a significant difference in taking that step
• Recognizing that it's unreasonable to think you can handle the situation on your own, but with proper guidance, you can unstick yourself and make progress in response to a loved one's addiction
  
  
  Links and Resources from this Episode
• https://whyintervention.com/
• https://twitter.com/whyintervention
• https://www.facebook.com/whyintervention/?ref=br_rs
• https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/learned-helplessness-imaginable/
  
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