Helping people with addictions

A few months back, Judge Kenneth Govendo stated that every indigenous island family has been affected by ice (methamphetamine) in some way. He was right. The judge might have included alcohol also, because its use is so widespread in our community.

On Dec. 9, a group of individuals—police officers, citizens, and Santa Claus—held a little gathering at the Superior courthouse. The purpose of the group was to “raise awareness” about drunk driving.

Two days later, on Dec. 11, a fatal car crash occurred on Pale Arnold Road, near the zoo. Two vehicles were racing and they crashed. Lives were lost; passengers were seriously injured. Alcohol was a factor.

The problems arising from drug and alcohol abuse are well established, and we don’t need any more “awareness” gatherings. What the Commonwealth needs, most of all, are solutions.

Many people believe that a person who drinks regularly has a character flaw or defect. This is not the case: alcoholism, or addiction to ice, is a disease, and should be treated as such.

All addictions are the same: there is a craving to “fill a hole” in the addicted brain. Whether the hole is filled by alcohol, or ice, or sex, or gambling, it never goes away. There is no cure for addiction, but there are remedies. However, in the end, it is up to the individual. It is not easy, but it’s possible.

According to Alcoholics Anonymous, the First Step states, “We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, and that our lives had become unmanageable.”

This could also include other addictions, because once a person become addicted, the addiction takes over. The individual is in the back seat of his own car; his addiction is at the wheel.

When I was a deacon in a NYC church I heard two alcoholics talking. One asked, “What’s your favorite drink?” The reply was, “The next one!”

Interventions
Because there are no residential treatment facilities in the Commonwealth, the task of helping the addict falls to the family members. An effective strategy is by holding an intervention.

An intervention goes like this: the family members gather in a living room and the addicted person is brought in. A spokesman for the groups tells the addict, “We know that you have a problem and we are here to help you, to love you, and to give you all the support we can to help you beat your addiction.”

The addict’s response is usually one of denial. Or the addict insists, “I can handle it!” But it’s too late for denial or excuses: their behavior has given them away: the cat is out of the bag, and the family must be brave, compassionate, and insistent.

Interventions are not intended to blame the addict, but to assure him or her that they are loved, and cared for, and that they will support his recovery efforts 100 percent. The family also puts the addict on notice: they won’t put up with it any more.

At the end of the intervention, each family member approaches the addict and gives him a hug. The family has become a support group, one of tough love.

It’s a brave and noble family that holds an intervention for a family member. It’s an extremely difficult process, but it’s necessary. It is necessary because the addict could easily wind up in jail, severely disabled, or dead.

I don’t know if there are families brave enough to say “enough is enough!” but I hope there are. A strong and determined family is the last best chance for any addict.

Russ Mason
As Teo, Saipan