A heroin addiction is a difficult disorder for anyone to overcome, but it can be especially difficult for a child. The best solution to this problem is to seek professional addiction treatment at a heroin rehab in Tennessee and elsewhere. However, knowing exactly how to help a child who is a heroin addict and encouraging them to receive treatment can often be challenging.
Understanding heroin addiction and following these tips can help you help them:
Heroin Addiction Explained
Before one can help a child with a heroin addiction, they must first understand what heroin is and how it is affecting their loved one.
What is Heroin?
Heroin is an illegal drug made from a naturally sourced substance called opium. It can typically be found in the form of a white or off-white powder or as a black tar-like substance. Users of heroin can ingest it in a number of ways, including injecting, snorting, and smoking.
Effects of a Heroin Addiction
There are many effects a person will experience while using heroin. Because this drug contains opium, the primary effect is pain relief. Opium has a natural ability to block pain signals sent between the brain and body, which provides users with the pain relief they often seek.
Among its many classifications, heroin is a depressant. This means that it will slow the functions, interactions, and reactions in the brain and body when consumed. Many users of heroin will appear relaxed, numb, and slow while the drug is in their system.
Heroin and the Brain
One of the most significant impacts of heroin use occurs in the brain. The repeated use of the drug actually damages the brain’s reward system. In doing so, heroin will rewire a person’s brain to make them more prone to addictive behaviors where they will seek immediate pleasures over rewarding pursuits.
Helping a Child with a Heroin Addiction
Helping a child with a heroin addiction is not easy, especially without knowing how to handle or even approach the situation. Here are a few tips on how to help a child who is a heroin addict:
Know the Signs of Heroin Addiction
Before deciding how to handle the situation or approaching a child about their heroin addiction, one must be sure that the child is using or addicted to heroin. Talking to someone about their addiction when they do not have one can be more than just awkward, it can severely damage that relationship. To avoid this, one should look for the signs of a heroin addiction. The most obvious signs include spotting heroin, tools for heroin use like needles, and the child’s behavior, especially if they appear numb and disoriented without warning.
Avoid Denial and Excuses
Observing the signs of a heroin addiction in a child can be challenging for any parent or concerned adult. However, these signs cannot be ignored. One cannot simply deny that a child has a heroin addiction or make excuses. A child with a heroin addiction needs help, and being in denial or making excuses only hurts them.
Convince the Child to Enter Addiction Treatment (Don’t Force)
To help a child with a heroin addiction, one must convince them to receive addiction treatment. Although a parent or parents may be able to force their child into treatment, this is never a good option. Forced treatment has a high rate of failure. It is always better to approach a child or any addict out of love and concern in order to convince them to commit to and receive treatment.
Use Professional Addiction Treatment
While there are many ways to treat a heroin addiction, professional addiction treatment at a reputable rehab facility is best. Most facilities offer a variety of treatments and therapies that help fit a patient’s needs and lifestyle. Using these methods often results in high rates of success for recovery.
Looking for Heroin Rehab in Tennessee?
If you, a loved one, or a child are living with a heroin addiction, help is available near you at our heroin rehab in Tennessee! At Knoxville Recovery Center, our addiction specialists provide several kinds of treatment for those addicted to heroin. Contact us for more information today!
