Writing a letter to a drug addict to express how you feel can be extremely difficult. For starters, you may feel awkward about bringing up the topic of their drug addiction since they become easily defensive. You may feel scared about making them angry and wanting to seek revenge for calling them out on their bad behavior. You may feel nervous about expressing a side of you that you haven’t before as you truly care about their wellbeing and long term health. Last but not least, you may feel very anxious about recommending a resource of drug addiction support for them to seek out. Whatever emotions you are going through, remember that you are not alone in this process.

Treat the addict in your life as anyone else. Just because they are being strongly affected by a drug in the present does not mean they get any sort of special treatment. You are not going to be an enabler and you are not going to allow them to feel like they’re off the hook. Even if they don’t agree with your opinion, it is not the end of the world! Your intervention letter is an expression of your concerns and might be the bus that hits their reality harder than the one that got Regina George in Mean Girls. This is a good thing, as you want a drug addict to wake up from their close off world of addiction and realize that they truly need drug addiction support.

Why A Letter?

Intervention letters play a huge role in the intervention process itself as each person involved can exactly express their thoughts. As a group of concerned people plan an intervention for an addict, they need to each write a personal letter that reflects their current feelings and points to a method of treatment. During the intervention, each group member can then read the letter out loud so the words ring in the addict’s ears. These letters also serve as a road map for the intervention as it keeps a person in check with their dialogue and personal emotions. Addiction affects several facets of a person’s life, so there likely will be laughs, anger, and even tears. It also prevents any person involved to become overly expressive and put their logical points at compromise. Make sure that you are reading your letter in a relaxed and positive manner to the addict for the best results possible.

By writing an intervention letter, you can also benefit from group feedback on what you plan to say. Usually, an intervention group will rehearse their words so they sound as smooth as possible when the right time comes to talk to the drug user about their signs of addiction. They can slightly alter their words to sound more clear, more genuine, or more caring overall so the addict isn’t too overwhelmed.

Starting Your Letter

It doesn’t have to be hard to begin writing your intervention letter! Follow these tips so you make a strong argument while still remaining true to yourself and genuine to the addict you’re talking to:

• Be heartfelt. Let your addict know that you care about them deep down and have a sense of gratitude for having them in your life. Feel free to share a positive experience that you had with them that left a great mark on your memory. This reinforces the fact that you are coming from a place of warmth and not cold criticism.
• Include a series of statements that reflect why you know their substance abuse and signs of addiction are a disease. You need them to grasp the fact that they are not defined by their addiction and can still behave as a good person. Explaining the role a drug dependency plays in a person’s body may pinpoint changes in their own behavior as well.
• Tell them why you are hurt and want them to truly change. Aside from the fact that they are slowly destroying their bodies, you may want to bring up the toll their signs of addiction has made on your personal emotions, stress, and anxiety overall. You are constantly worrying about their safety and need to know that they can manage to get through the day without inhaling a dose of drugs.
• Offer your recommended drug addiction support. This could be in the form of a detox specialist, a closed off rehab center in the country, or a rehab group in town that can build accountability for the addict. They may not want to take up advice at first, but if you plan an appointment or group meeting beforehand you can save a lot of time and trouble. The addict won’t have as much room to complain or find a way out of your help if you’ve already put in the money and effort to see them improve.

Know Your Limits

These tips are meant to guide you through forming a strong and heartfelt intervention letter. If you write it well and gain feedback from other people who really care about the addict, you’re more likely to hit a nerve in their system to stop abusing drugs and treat their signs of addiction. Make sure you time your intervention rightto perform your best. On the other hand, you are also not meant to be perfect and having a failed intervention is okay. We all aren’t trained for years to make sure the person we love treats their drug addiction. If needed, turn to the help of an intervention expert to form a stronger means of dialogue and treatment so the addict is pushed to make the right decision. You never know what the possibilities are until you try something new in life, so don’t be afraid to reach out to one for extra help!