- Hello, and welcome to "Families in Recovery:
A Family Education Video," produced by the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration.
The video you're going to watch today
talks about how family members can support loved ones
during substance abuse treatment and early recovery.
The people in this video are in recovery themselves
or are family members of people in recovery.
Listening to their experiences may help you understand
the role of family in recovery and help you.
You've taken an important first step
by coming to treatment with your loved one.
When a family is coping with a loved one
who has a problem with drugs or alcohol,
life can be frustrating and chaotic.
The person might behave self-destructively
and family members may resort to desperate measures to cope.
Living with this situation is difficult.
That's where treatment can help.
When we use the word "family,"
we mean "immediate and extended family,
significant others, friends,
mentors, sponsors, partners, colleagues--
anyone who is supportive of recovery."
You are encouraged to bring these people
to the Family Education group.
- We learned that there were certain parts of his recovery
that had to be taken care of by professionals.
That we had to be there, but step back
and let the professionals who knew what they were doing.
In order for Tom to have a successful recovery
and this to work for everyone, we had to step back.
- Research shows that treatment works better
if family members are involved.
Treatment helps family members
understand addiction and recovery.
Friends and family members do not always know
how to be supportive,
or how to act in ways that are not harmful.
They also may not understand why the person in recovery
does or says some things.
If everyone has the same information
and understands the process,
success in treatment is more likely.
- And I was talking about how it's critically important
to have your family be supportive.
And I know that I caused a lot of pain,
I know they were hurt, I know they were angry.
I know all these things, and so, to have them be there,
despite all that, was really, really important to me.
- Two parallel processes are involved
in the development of addiction.
This is a very simplified explanation of addiction.
Basically, two areas of the brain are involved:
the cortex, and the limbic system.
The cortex is the reasoning, thinking part.
It's where rational decision making occurs--
the brain's computer.
The cortex directs our behavior
and evaluates both the positive and negative aspects
of a situation when we make decisions.
Addictive use of drugs and alcohol
is driven by powerful changes
that substances, especially stimulants,
cause in the lower part of the brain--
the limbic system.
Each use of a substance activates the limbic system,
and, eventually, this more primitive part of the brain
becomes conditioned, to the point where it overrides
the rational thought processes and decision making
done in the prefrontal cortex.
- I think the family group was great, anyway,
which was very helpful to my wife,
but, actually, it was a great way
to explain to a family member
how our addict brains really kind of work.
And I think my wife got a lot out of it,
when it comes to the lower brain and the upper brain
and, really, what alcohol and drugs do to your brain
and how long it takes to sort of recover.
And I think, without that,
there wouldn't really be an understanding,
so I highly recommend the family group for any family member.