March 29, 2024

5 Resources for Families Being Affected By Opioid Addiction

Help for Families Affected By Opioid Addiction

  • American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
  • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Faces and Voices of Recovery
  • Family Resource Center
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse

Opioid addiction knows no bounds, and these five resources for families being affected by opioid addiction may help lessen the burden. These resources cover information about what addiction is, how drugs affect the brain and how treatment for addiction works. Each of these resources can be useful to a family in order to aid in their progress toward healing and recovery.

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1. American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry

The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry website is for the association of addiction medicine psychiatrists. Their website includes a long list of links to resources that families can use in order to find information about how different drugs change the brain, how a person becomes addicted to opioids and a list of opioids and other drugs that are commonly abused. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry also includes access to research publications on addiction.

2. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry offers a substance use resource center on its website. It includes information about the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse in teenagers. It gets into how addiction takes less time in a teenager and can have longer-lasting and more serious consequences than in people who develop an addiction later in life. On the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website, parents and family members can learn more about addiction, interventions, and treatments for children and teenagers.

3. Faces and Voices of Recovery

On the Faces and Voices of Recovery website, families can access information and join together in order to advocate for increased funding to research and treat addiction disorders. The organization offers ways for people to advocate at the local level and get more resources in their own communities for recovery from addiction. The Faces and Voices of Recovery also includes guidelines on how to contact lawmakers about policies around addiction.

4. Family Resource Center

The Family Resource Center is a resource for families to use for preventing drug and alcohol use in children. It also has information about intervening in a child’s substance abuse disorder. There are treatment resource links for finding inpatient and outpatient recovery centers by location. The Family Resource Center also offers information about the treatment options. Once a child has gone through treatment, families can use the site’s guides on how to maintain recovery from opioid and other addictions.

5. National Institute on Drug Abuse

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is part of the federal government. It offers resources for families to use on how to discuss drug abuse with teens and children. It also has information about treatment options that are specific to children and teens. On the National Institute on Drug Abuse website, families can also refer to research-based guidelines on what works the best for opioid addiction treatment. The site also has information about clinical trials for opioid addiction treatments.

Some of these resources are specific to families in the military, teenagers with opioid addiction or families experiencing a death caused by opioid addiction. Reviewing these resources could make it easier for a family to find therapy and support in their community. Referring to each of these five resources for families being affected by opioid addiction helps people remember that they are not alone in living this experience.