The necessity of the social support about the recovered addicts

Undoubtedly this matter is important after drug withdrawal the addicts need to be supported by the family and the society. After drug withdrawal the addicts are often rejected by their families and the society because of their past behaviors originated by addiction disease. It should be recognized the addicts’ demands, their conditions and thoughts for becoming clear the supporting field. How should be a person (involved with drug using) supported and then he has withdrawn it because of exhaustion and helplessness of drug using to return to his life and the society hopefully?
There are principles and experiences concerning the addicts that performing them during several decades causing many addicts returned to the society that it wasn’t imagined they were saved or recovered even in many cases they were effective on their families and the society. These principles don’t see the addict responsible in front of his disease. Controlling the disease is beyond the addicts’ ability even his treatment. But the control and the treatment should be performed by hope and love instead of rejecting. In the first instance it is exactly the person himself must learn the principles and to be ready for changing. We should understand that the main problem is not the drug using and drug withdrawal but it is an addict’s thought and feelings and the social conditions. This part is invisible and it is one of the most difficult treatments in the world that these thoughts and feelings lead him to the social abnormal behaviors, incompatibility and destruction before drug using. After drug withdrawal, this person faces the same feelings led him to the drug using and now it isn’t removed and it acts stronger than the past time because the pains during drug using, emotional and financial deficits and dozens of other factors have been added to his past pains. After drug withdrawal, there is something in his mind for escaping despite of exhaustion and inability against drug using. For an addict the best implement and the safest behavior is what is associated with it. This behavior makes safety and unreal comfort but pleasant for him. The role of the social workers and their professional interventions beside the recovered addict’s family is acceptance, training and helping to the development of the negotiation and communication skills. Sometimes client’s support is the client’s awareness about the social worker’s interest and collaboration and at last providing a psychological secure environment, understanding emotions and forgiveness along with kindness toward a person who is ready to join the family and society.
The recovered addicts are sometimes confused after drug withdrawal and they are always tempted to reuse narcotics. In most treatments after detoxification, the addict had been placed in sessions of the individual and group psychotherapy without paying attention to what extent he is ready to be changed and accept the treatment and naturally the success possibility had been reducing with disregarding this important factor. From two aspects it is necessary to understand all predisposing factors for addiction and protective factors against it until the prevention process, detection, treatment and follow-up will be planned systematically.
1. Identifying the people at risk of addiction and preventive measures for them
2. Support necessity of the recovered addicts on all fields that they don’t return to the drug using
In recent decades, prevention of the returning and their methods are more taken into consideration as an independent process. Numerous theories have been presented for explaining these approaches.
The social support focuses on this matter that the person benefits from the assistance and sympathy of those around them (family, friends and etc) to feel closeness with them because the social support and its quantity are the function of one’s social relationships.
So the various aspects of the social support are the best way to prevent the recovered addicts return to drug using like emotional, implemental, self esteem, information, social network support. These supports can be from the family, relatives, social and family supportive networks and of course on the side of governmental and private organizations. The emotional supports can make self protection. So the various kinds of social supports like a linker create accessibility, partnership, replacement and protect of the recovered addicts. It is essential the society look changes about recovered addicts until they are not disillusioned among the layers of society.
One of the best forms of the social support by the social worker is when the clients’ demands are ignored or suppressed and in this situation the social worker interferes as a protector.
Unfortunately returning to the drug using reduces the self confidence, responsibility and effectiveness and consequently it affects on the person and his family and the society. For instance the family problems are resumed and mistrust of the family members is reinforced toward the addict and it makes hard the next drug withdrawal and his acceptability, the sanctity of the family disappears, the family foundation is undermined and if the addict is a parent, numerous problems would be made in terms of social, economic and cultural. Every time he returns to drug using If he is an offspring, the family will experience extreme stress. The returning effects on the society in terms of economic, cultural, social and security is remarkable too. Because when these persons to be addicted again, they tolerate extreme mental tension and it is possible they commit any crime and the possibility of the drug withdrawal be reduced.
Some patterns have been listed about considering these prevention approaches. In one of the patterns, the cares after releasing are taken into account instead of focusing on detoxification. One of the most important measures should be done for clients is creating a sense of depth awareness of the ways in which the internal and external driving factors may create risky situations by them.
The family members help their addict member by ways are harmful for him and themselves. The family members don’t usually know the support principles of an addict and their help is based on this belief that the addiction is a behavioral abnormality and they can convince their addict member to withdraw the drug. But if you want to have an effective support for an addict to be recovered, first of all you should know the addiction is an illness not an immoral behavior or moral weakness and it has special treatment way like other diseases. The collaboration of the government organizations and NGOs is necessary regarding the social support of the recovered addicts who have been released from addiction by power and high self confidence. Confidence is one of the most important helps for recovered addicts to continue their lives and works. It can be said the recovered addicts are on the border of the healthy or non- healthy lives. The recovered addicts need to have personality rehabilitation because their frustration caused to return to the addiction cycle. Drug experts believe they can control the problems like stress, depression, mental problems by personality rehabilitation and keep away them from frustrations until they don’t return to the addiction cycle. One of the Welfare organization solutions is creating midway houses for recovered addicts’ empowerment and it was decreed the recovered addicts being dwelled in these houses after releasing the camps and treatment centers until finding jobs, shelter and income and follow-up the legal problems otherwise these persons return to the harm centers and the recovery process fails.
Providing housing is one of the services that its aim is encouraging the drug user toward addiction withdrawal, because the most of these persons are shelterless.
Through giving the facilities, addicts’ employment is another subject should be considered because the surveys indicate one of the important reasons that a person returns to the drug using is unemployment. The social workers are sometimes criticized about the support of the recovered addicts because their supports in the first stages focus on keeping situation and the health state than the situation improvement and developing his abilities and it is possible the recovered addict lose his life’s control quickly therefore, it is hard to determine what he is doing or what aims he has.

Mehri Fataee
Social worker
“Iranian social worker’s media campaign on social protection of recovered”