Intervention: The Tool That Works

"If you refuse to be evaluated and enter treatment if diagnosed with
substance abuse or chemical dependency, the following actions will
be taken:"

No manager, colleague, spouse, partner, parent, child, or friend hopes to
have to say these words to someone they care for and respect. These are
usually the final words used in a technique known as "Intervention". Denial
is the major obstacle to overcome when treating someone with the
disease of addiction. If the addict refuses to believe they are chemically
dependent, no amount of cajoling, begging, or demanding will stop the
progress of this disease.

Addiction is chronic (never goes away), progressive (will get worse if
ignored), and fatal (accidental OD, accidents, domestic violence, other
criminal activity, vomiting and aspiration when intoxicated, and any
number of other diseases associated with chemical misuse). Waiting for it
to go away, or for the addict to “get it” allows the brain to be altered
more profoundly. So much so that it may never return to a “normal”
state. The longer this disease goes untreated, the longer, and more
difficult, treatment becomes. Believe it or not, denial can be a useful
psychological defense mechanism for surviving extremely traumatic
situations. It's an ingrained technique that allows us to "ignore" situations
that would normally overwhelm us. Denial is the first of “The 5 Stages of
Acceptance.” (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance). It
allows us to take in bits and pieces of a devastating event in order to
develop a plan for dealing with the situation. Pathological denial is the
same defense mechanism gone wild. It allows the addict to continue using
despite extremely negative consequences as a result of their chemical
misuse. It is not a conscious process! The addict doesn't think, "I love my
alcohol, so I'll keep making excuses in order to drinking." A better
example of an addict's thought process might be...(next page)