In 2019, an estimated 21 million people had a substance abuse addiction, which led many to wonder how to prevent substance abuse. With the epidemic increasing each day, it’s essential to prevent substance abuse before it begins.
Here are some ways to stop addiction in its tracks.
Table of Contents
Educate Yourself
Something that many people lack when it comes to addiction is its education and understanding of how it works. How can you prevent something if you don’t understand it?
It’s essential not only to understand signs of addiction, but how it develops in peoples’ lives. While for some, it can start recreationally and eventually morph into a full-blown addiction.
By educating yourself, you equip yourself with the knowledge needed to prevent it and approach those in active addiction with empathy.
Think About Risk Factors
At Hope Rising Recovery, one of the things we do in treatment is identify factors that have contributed to someone continuing their addiction. While some of these risk factors can be past trauma, there’s also a chance that a person’s addiction is due to family history.
Take some time to dive into your family’s past and make a note of issues your relatives have had with things like addiction and mental health. If these types of problems run in your family, it’s essential to understand these factors as a core part of substance abuse prevention.
Maintain Balance in Your Life
When things aren’t balanced in your life, it can be easy to turn to drugs or alcohol as a means of comfort. It’s crucial to find a way to keep your life in balance no matter what.
There are several ways people can practice stress and anger management without letting it boil over. We also recommend taking some time to set goals for yourself, both short and long-term.
Whenever you feel as if you’re stuck in a rut, you can remind yourself of the goals you’ve set and continue working towards achieving them.
Get Help
For some people asking for help when they’re going through a tough time is the furthest thing from their minds. But, reaching out for help can be what saves you from a life of addiction.
If you don’t have someone in your life you can speak to about the things you’re dealing with, you can always seek help from a trained therapist. They will provide you with a safe space to talk about your issues and help you develop ways to deal with them without becoming destructive to yourself.
How to Prevent Substance Abuse?
How to prevent substance abuse is a question that many people have asked themselves when they have someone in their lives suffering from substance abuse and don’t want it to continue. Take time to educate yourself and get help if you need to.
Did you find the answers you were looking for? Don’t forget to check out the other posts we’ve published in this section.
