One of the hardest things to do for any situation is ask for help. The idea of reaching out and admitting that you feel you need support, rather than handle a problem yourself? That could be a hard pill to swallow if you are somebody who is full of pride. The problem with pride is that it doesn’t allow you to believe that you are worthy of help because it tells you that you could do things on your own – even when you can’t. When you are struggling in life, you have to lean on those around you for support as much as possible. Their support is going to pull you through.
There are so many ways that a person can reach out to those around them, whether it’s asking for help to get into an addiction treatment program, or asking all the ways that you could get some help in affording treatment in the first place, you need to ask and reach out for assistance. It is not easy to say that you need help, but if you don’t speak up where will you be? What could happen to you if you don’t get the help that you need? Well, any addict knows that the answer to that is fatal. Below, we have all the ways that you can ask for help even when you can’t speak up and reach out directly.
- Write a letter. If you can’t speak up and ask somebody face-to-face for help, or admit you are struggling, write everything down in letter form. Treat the letter like a diary entry, and ask them to really understand your words that you have put down on paper. When you write a letter, you can consider what you want to say and you can ensure that you write down the words in the right way rather than the wrong way.
- Pick somebody that you trust. Turning to somebody in your life is a big step. You are trusting that person with your most vulnerable state, and so you should choose somebody that you really trust with all of your secrets. Writing isn’t the answer for everybody, and that’s okay! Some people are more comfortable speaking about their struggles face-to-face and voicing why they need help. Most of the time, you will find that your loved one is relieved that you have reached out when you did. Perhaps they had noticed a change in you and we are waiting for you to speak up.
- Choose a stranger. The chances are that when you are struggling you don’t want to burden somebody that you love with this problem of yours. If you can’t bring yourself to talk to somebody you know, pick up the phone and talk to a stranger. Sometimes it’s easier to offload on them compared to someone that you do know. You could talk to a counselor, a teacher, you could even pick up the phone to a counseling service dedicated for this very reason. Pick somebody – anybody – that you can talk to so that you don’t end up doing something you regret.
- Speak to your doctor. Addiction itself is a disease. It falls into a medical category, which means that you can speak to a professional and get the help that you need. There are dedicated addiction specialists out there who are there specifically to help you when you are struggling. If you’re not sure about the steps that you should take to get help for your disease, your doctor will know the answers to those questions and they will be able to determine how severe of a problem the addiction has become.
- Go online. There are plenty of resources online today, which means that just going online can help you to truly understand what you’re going through and how you can ask for help. All of the resources are right there for you to choose from, and you can learn about your addiction and you can pinpoint how you are feeling and use these resources as references when you speak to a medical professional.
- Seek out a pair. There are so many addiction support groups out there that you would be surprised to know just how many are in your area. Support groups are there to get you through the hardest times and they are built from people who have been in your position before. If you’re looking for help with addiction and you don’t know how to ask for help, head to one of those local groups and listen. You could meet a sponsor there, too, and they can really help.
