Resources for families and significant others affected by opioid addiction

Many family members and concerned significant others of individuals with an opioid use disorder suffer greatly. Family members and significant others may experience:

• Feelings of betrayal 
• Fears of loss or death 
• Financial challenges 
• Guilt or anger 
• Confusion about setting limits 
• Shame or embarrassment

Nonetheless, family members may be able to play key roles in helping individuals with opioid use disorder seek treatment or have greater success in ongoing treatments. Furthermore, family members and concerned significant others can benefit from treatment that supports their own well-being, resilience, and improved mental health and quality of life.

Research studies have shown that involving family members and concerned significant others in treatment is helpful to individuals with substance use disorders in general, and there is specific evidence that involving family and concerned significant others in treatment for opioid use disorder can improve treatment engagement and outcomes.

Accessing family-based services can be a challenge because of poor service availability, logistical challenges (insurance, hours of clinic operations), or stigma, among other barriers. Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening by Robert Meyers and Brenda Wolfe is a self-help book based on an evidence-based family behavioral intervention for substance use disorders. It can be useful as an adjunct to in-person services or for those who cannot currently access such services.

Family members can also benefit from education on overdose, including recognizing and responding to a potential overdose. Trainings in overdose recognition and response are also available for family members.

Family members and concerned significant others can also benefit from talking with others who are struggling with the volatility of opioid use disorder. Research indicates that attending mutual help support groups can improve mental health, quality of life, and coping with addiction and may also reduce self-blame and stress. Mutual help support groups include:

• Nar-Anonopens in new window
• Learn to Copeopens in new window

Many of these groups offer online and/or in-person support groups. Learn to Cope also offers naloxone administration training at meetings; members of Learn to Cope recently reported using naloxone to reverse 44 opioid overdoses. Thus, connecting family members and concerned significant others with mutual support organizations can not only improve the lives of family members and concerned significant others but also provide life-saving training in overdose reversal.