One of the challenges of addiction is that it doesn’t only affect the addict, it negatively impacts other aspects of their lives like their relationships. Hence, if you have a friend who is struggling with addiction, you can be a support system for them to put addiction at bay.

Here are some tips on how to support your addicted friend

Get education on addiction

Before you start as a support system, it is important to have a basic knowledge of what addiction means. You need to understand how addiction develops, and how it affects various areas of their lives.

When you know how addiction works, you may be more empathetic to what they are going through, and you will be more involved in their lives.

Watch out for yourself

If you are in the right state of health, it may be less challenging for you to be there for your addicted friend. You need to cater to your emotional, physical, and mental needs so that you will be better equipped to help your friend.

While you navigate this role, be sure to seek help from communities or support groups so that you won’t be alone.

Approach them with love

When you are with your addicted friend, ensure that you don’t criticize them for their state. Addicts have a way of telling if you are there to help them or just to condemn them.

If you condemn an addict, it may be difficult to convince them to seek help. However, if you come from a standpoint of love, they might be more inclined to consider your advice and get treated for their addiction.

Be there for them during treatment

When your friend is in addiction treatment, don’t leave them alone. Ensure that you are up to speed at each stage of their treatment.

Seeing a familiar face during addiction treatment may increase their motivation to follow through with treatment and become sober. You can also discuss with the counselor or therapist the best way to show up for some of their sessions.

Systems exist to promote ease of work and organization to life. A support system is the network of people you have built over time to draw support. While support systems mainly comprise family and friends, it is not limited to such because even strangers can be support systems.

The necessary thing is that they are a set of persons you can draw strength from when you are down or burdened. A support system is of importance for the following reasons:

1. Maintaining social life: Your support system will help you reintegrate with the world when you feel withdrawn and to yourself. With a support system, if you don’t reach out to people for socializing, they will meet up with you and help you stay out of your shell.

2. Getting things done: When you do not feel like doing anything due to tiredness, or stress, your friends or family can reach out to you. They may help you get things done or encourage you to do your work.

3. Releasing unnecessary pressure: Stress is interwoven with daily living. A way to release this pressure is by interacting with people to have a good time. It can be through a phone call, email, or a visit.

4. Having people who care: There are certain times where we want to feel loved. At this point, if you have people around you who genuinely care about you, it gets better. In times of loneliness, they can fill the void for you.

No matter how much of an independent person you may be, ensure you build relationships with people because you do not know the time you will need someone to keep you going. Join a book club, a sports team, or volunteer to have a system of people around you.

Life gives a fair share of ups and downs to everyone. The response of every person to the downtimes of life differs. While some find it easy to rise, others struggle with finding their footing and suffer the risk of drowning with the lows of life. It is for this cause that counseling exists.

Sadly, counseling comes with a stigma and a general view of weakness. Many will prefer to continue to drag in darkness than look for a counselor to secure their chance of having their great life back.

Counseling is not only for those who are suffering from addiction; anyone who has gone through a bad experience or constantly feels withdrawn from society needs a counselor.

Seeking counsel will help you feel stronger and let go of the past after a bad experience. A counselor can also help an addict transit to a functional person who leads a life. If you need your happy life back, here are four reasons why you should see a counselor:

1. A counselor helps you shift focus from the negativities in your life. They show you a picture of how your life can be better, what you should focus on and how you can stay on track.
2. You have the opportunity to clear your mind by saying all the things you need to say without fear of being burdensome. You are free to release your emotions and show your weaknesses without fear. Releasing those negative emotions is helpful for a healthy mind and a great life.
3. Counselors will provide you with answers to nagging questions in your mind and explain situations you are facing through their experience. They can help you see the light and focus on it.
4. You are confident in having someone who genuinely cares about you, wants to see you have a healthy life, and is ready to do all it takes to help you attain it.

Everyone wants to live a good life but not all of us are disciplined enough to stick to health habits that will help us. With our tight schedules, we find it difficult to keep up with these health habits and we end up paying for it when our health is on a low ebb.

Health tips might sound easy to stick with and remember, but the difficult phase is the implementation point. However, when you have been able to keep up for a while, you will discover that it is quite easy. Moreso, do not be discouraged at the absence of the benefits at first, they are usually evident in the mid-term and long-term.  

Below are some health tips you need for a good life:

• Regular exercise: People find it hard to keep up with remaining fit and this is not good enough. There are lots of benefits which comes with exercising ranging from positively affecting the physical health, mental health and a host of others.

For a good life, it is important to take part in activities that would provide strength to your bones and muscles.

• Drink water: In addition to this, it is important to drink more of water instead of taking sugary drinks. The fact is, these drinks do little or nothing in making our health better. So, it is best to drink water which is one of the major substances that aids detoxification.

• Good nutrient plan: For a good nutrient plan, it is vital for you to stick to a good nutrient plan that would ensure a good health. If you do not know how to go about getting a nutrient plan, it is best to see a nutritionist who would put you through.

• More fruits and vegetables: Instead of taking snacks and junk food, it is more beneficial to take fruits and vegetables because they give nutrients. They also aid in the detoxification process.

• Sleep properly: Above all, it is important for you to have enough sleep every now and then. For your body and brain to function properly, it is great to rest.

A purpose-filled life is one that has an individual doing what he or she is meant to do on the Earth. For those who are new to the concept of purpose fulfillment, it simply refers to the act and art of using your skills and talents to help those around you. Starting out to fulfil purpose might be a herculean task especially if you are confused on how to go about it.

First off, you need to look within yourself and know what special talent you have. For instance, if you are someone who loves to discuss with people who have problems, and give them solution, then you possibly have the gift of counseling.

This implies that when you go into this field, you will touch lives and turn them around with your soothing words. You will always have the right words to say because it is your gift. One way you can hone this, is to read up and know more about the field of counseling. With that, you are good to go.

Fulfilling purpose commences the moment when you are tired of seeing the wrong things happen around you. What you want is for people to do the right thing and at the right time. You are passionate about creating value and impacting lives in your own little way. All these are more are building blocks of purpose fulfilment.

So, how do you go about this? The major factor you need to consider is ensuring you have a good understanding of what you are set out to do.

You need to undergo remodeling so that you can be the best version of yourself. And this can be achieved by getting a mentor. A mentor is someone who would always keep tabs on you, to make sure you are doing the right thing.

Mentors have lots of experience and they will point out mistakes that you might not even know they existed. Also, it is important to keep getting better in terms of knowledge and value. You cannot give what you don’t have, so it is vital to make growth a conscious effort.

Sponsorship is a feature which is quintessential in addiction recovery. Some people who have achieved a sober and clean state after addiction, have achieved this with the influence of a sponsor. It has proven to be an effective tool in addiction recovery. Those who are in the stage of early recovery, getting a sponsor for addiction recovery is most times a theme of conversation. They are usually advised by other recovering addicts that they should get themselves a sponsor, and commence working together in the shortest possible time.

In addiction recovery, the addict needs a sponsor who knows a lot about sobriety, the 12 steps and has the capacity to be responsible to the person instead of being responsible for the person. A sponsor plays the role of a close friend alongside being a mentor and a guide.

In other cases, a sponsor is a person in recovery who has already gone through the 12-steps which are mentioned in the 12-step programme.

The basic role of a sponsor, is to aid their sponsee go through the 12-steps of any treatment schedule or plan they are working with. It could be a good ride for both sponsee and sponsor. The sponsee is a person who is very sober, alongside being honest and susceptible just like any other person.

A sponsor can also be a good source of providing addiction recovery information, which would contain their personal experiences, ups and down. They are also in the capacity to give great and beneficial tips on how to live a life which is free from alcohol or drugs.

In addition to this, a sponsor gives encouragement and motivation to a fresh sober person, thereby being a source of support and a listening ear.

Another benefit of having a sponsor, is being a source of accountability to the addict.

Now, there should be a clear disparity between what a sponsor is expected to do in the addiction recovery process, and what he is not meant to do.

Below are some things which the sponsor should not do:

1. A sponsor is expected not to act as a psychologist or therapist
2. A sponsor is expected not to take advantage of a sponsee

If any of the above points occur, it is expected that the relationship is dismissed immediately.