#4 The Costs of Opioid Addiction to the Family

This episode discusses the impact that opioid addiction can leverage on a family including financial.

It is Thursday evening, 6:05 PM, and James has been patiently waiting by the phone for a call from his son who is supposed to be entering a treatment program for the 7th time. As James anticipates the call, he reflects on the amount of Time, energy, and financial cost that his son has burdened his family with. After the time for his son to call passed, with no communication, he realizes that his son has once again absconded from treatment, James shakes his head in despair, heartbreak, and disgust.

This is the typical MO for his son, whom we will refer to as JP. As in previous behaviors, JP would make a commitment to go into treatment only if he was to receive certain financial assistance for his present situation, prior to going. In this case, James would generally give JP between $300 and $500, knowing he would use most if, not all of it, to buy drugs. Being the devoted father, James has never given up on his son and would do anything he can to keep him alive.

James also realizes that at the age of 67, he will probably have to continue working for the rest of his life, as much of his savings have been depleted due to the continual support of his son. James has no more retirement options as he has depleted his investments and his 401K savings. Though this may sound very discouraging, James still considers what he is trying to do is the right thing. This is not a question of moral authority, or his conviction in trying to save his sons life, but more a concern about how enabling an individual to continue with their present behaviors, after many attempts, have such a devastating impact financially on families.

James understands today that his best approach is to seek professional help for himself first and learn how to set up the appropriate conditions, or terms, for his son to receive assistance and treatment. This is not what is referred to as ‘tough love,’ but a principled guideline so that his son can make the choice of treatment without being allowed the opportunity to manipulate. The great challenge is that James does not know how to do this, nor what these conditions would look like.

This is where Tiger Resilience comes in. 

This story could be viewed as the journey of James and his son. They are on a flight together, traveling the world, but then the cabin depressurizes – the adversity.  For James to be successful he must realize that before he can help his son on this life-flight, he must put the oxygen mask on himself first, before placing it on his son.

The story of James is not unfamiliar to those family members and friends to a person, whom they love and care about, and struggling from opioid addiction.

This true story is more common and plays out frequently on a global stage; this narrative of the challenge’s families face just never gets reported in statistics or government data. The truth is that for James to be able to help his son, he will need to help himself first and foremost.

Tiger Resilience offers integrated, self-serve opioid addiction educational programs that are specifically focused on the family members, not the addicted person. For more information, please visit Tiger-Resilience.com

Thank you for your precious time and interest in learning about Opioid addiction and how families can learn to thrive amid such adversity.

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