Risks of Postponing Addiction Treatment
In This Article
What Happens if You Delay Addiction Treatment?
When an addiction goes untreated, it can keep growing like a fire with devastating results. Over time, your addiction can get progressively worse, resulting in long-term health problems.
Here’s what can happen to your overall health if you postpone treatment:
- Damaged organs
- Weakened immune system
- Poor work or school performance
- Job loss
- Legal and financial problems
- Relationship problems with loved ones
- Mental health problems (depression, anxiety, etc.)
- Impaired learning, decision-making, and memory
- Increased tolerance
- Dependency
- Withdrawal symptoms
- Overdose or fatal overdose
Additionally, addiction can make someone feel hopeless and powerless. They might lose their sense of agency and falsely believe that recovering from an addiction is impossible.
Why is Early Intervention Important?
Don’t hesitate to get treatment for an addiction. The sooner you can get help, the better it’ll be in the long run.
Here are some benefits of early intervention:
- Minimizes the impact of long-term health damage
- Results in an easier time breaking addictive thought patterns
- Healthy habits and techniques can be built early
- Results in better chances at repairing relationships affected by your addiction
- Gives a head start on getting back on track with life goals
Looking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s an act of strength and self-love. Receiving treatment gives you the best chance of living a healthy life, and you don’t have to do it alone.
Here are some resources that might be helpful for learning about addiction and getting help:
- SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
- National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers
- SMART Recovery
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Factors Contributing to Treatment Delays
Avoiding or delaying treatment isn’t just about a lack of “willpower” or motivation. Various factors might be a barrier to treatment.
These factors include:
| Personal barriers | Societal barriers | Systemic barriers |
| Shame and fear of judgment | Social stigma | Lack of insurance and treatment costs |
| Denial or lack of belief in the recovery process | Lack of support from loved ones | Limited access to treatment centers or long waitlists |
| Withdrawal symptoms that can make quitting uncomfortable or painful | Cultural factors or beliefs that addiction is a personal failure | Ineligibility for support services like housing, job training, etc. |
Unfortunately, these barriers can pile up on top of each other. Someone experiencing internal and mental struggles with their addiction might not have support from their family.
They might also not have the money or insurance to afford care. Overall, these factors can lead to a sense of hopelessness and entrapment.
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Strategies for Encouraging Timely Treatment
Some jobs offer routine drug tests, which can help detect the early signs of substance abuse. However, not everyone has access to routine screenings or drug tests.
In fact, one of the biggest barriers to receiving addiction treatment is the cost. Here are some things you can do to encourage someone to get help early:
- Educate yourself: Try to understand everything you can about addiction, including treatment facilities, methods, and aftercare.
- Talk to a professional: Talking to a doctor or an addiction specialist can help provide accessible treatment options tailored to your needs.
- Consider low-cost alternatives: Community clinics, government programs, and sliding-scale options are great for people without insurance.
- Seek flexible options: If you can’t afford to put your life on hold for treatment, consider intensive outpatient programs, telehealth options, and other time-flexible options.
It’s important to remember that it’s never too late to get help. Although it might seem difficult, it is possible to recover from an addiction.
How to Support Someone Struggling with Addiction
Being empathetic can be the difference between receiving or delaying treatment. It can help break the stigma around addiction and make people struggling feel safe, seen, and motivated.
Being empathetic encourages people to stay in therapy longer, follow treatment recommendations, and engage with support systems. Overall, this ultimately leads to more people getting well and staying well.
Here are more specific ways to show your empathy:
- Don’t blame them: Addiction is a chronic condition, not a personal failure, so avoid accusatory language and blame.
- Share recovery stories: Showing them proof that people can recover from an addiction can be powerful, especially when trying to help someone get treatment.
- Research: Understanding the difficulties of addiction and withdrawal can help you be more sympathetic to your loved ones’ condition.
- Join support groups: There are programs for people with loved ones struggling with addiction, like Al-Anon or Nar-Anon.
- Show genuine concern: Focus on the benefits of treatment on their overall health and avoid labeling their behavior as “bad”.
Additionally, you should understand that a relapse doesn’t mean failure. Oftentimes, it’s a normal part of recovery.
Changing the Narrative on Addiction and Treatment
Changing the narrative can help people struggling with addiction feel safe and reduce the stigma around the condition. It involves raising awareness through media, policy, and education. Because of this, it’s important to support policies and programs that focus on treatment.
Overall, changing the public perception around addiction and treatment can increase the likelihood of early treatment, reducing:
- Long-term physical and mental side effects
- Legal and financial problems due to addictive behavior
- Social fallout and isolation due to broken relationships
- Job instability
What's Next?
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- Rizzo et al. “Barriers to Accessing Addiction Treatment for Women at Risk of Homelessness.” Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 2022.
- Farhoudian et al. “Barriers and Facilitators to Substance Use Disorder Treatment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.” Subst Abuse, 2022.
- “The Most Common Barriers to Addiction Treatment.” Rootsrecovery.org.
- Hammarlund et al. “Review of the effects of self-stigma and perceived social stigma on the treatment-seeking decisions of individuals with drug- and alcohol-use disorders.” Subst Abuse Rehabil, 2018.
- “More than 4 in 10 U.S. Adults Who Needed Substance Use and Mental Health Care Did Not Get Treatment.” The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 2022.
- Placzek et al. “Intersecting systemic and personal barriers to accessing social services: qualitative interviews in northern California.” BMC Public Health, 2021.
- Tracy K., & Wallace SP. “Benefits of peer support groups in the treatment of addiction.” Subst Abuse Rehabil, 2016.
