How to Help a Friend Quit Doing Drugs

Watching a friend self-destruct is painful. When you know someone who takes drugs, you have two choices: you can ignore his behavior and perhaps discontinue the friendship, or you can try to help him quit doing drugs. Neither one of these solutions is easy; it's up to you to decide if you're ready to help.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Have a serious talk with your friend about the changes you're seeing in his behavior. Try not to be judgmental, just point out the differences from before and from after the drug use started.
2. Remind your friend of the activities the two of you took part in before he began using drugs. Again, make the comments nonjudgmental, such as, "Remember when we used to spend our summer vacation catching frogs by the creek? I really miss that."
3. Comment on how your friend's personality has changed. Drug use changes the chemicals in the brain. Depending upon the drug taken, your friend might anger easily, or he might not care about anything. Remind him of how he would have reacted to a given situation, before he began doing drugs.
4. Seek professional help. Most drug addictions are far beyond the ability of a single, untrained person to help. Call your community mental health board for a list of groups in your area that assist those suffering from drug addiction.
5. Call for emergency help if your friend takes an overdose of drugs and is unresponsive. Unfortunately, drug use escalates as the user becomes accustomed to the amount and needs more to achieve the same effect. This leads to overdose and can be potentially fatal.
6. Offer to attend drug classes with your friend for moral support. It won't be easy, but once your friend starts a program of treatment for drugs, he has taken the first step toward recovery.