When to Intervene

When Should You Intervene?
1. Is the use of alcohol and/or other drugs causing problems in:
_____ Work or School (lost time, lower productivity or grades, warnings or suspensions)
_____ With the law (arrests for DUI or drug related charges)
_____ Family finances (income cannot be accounted for, bills unpaid etc)
_____ The health of the user (serious physical problems such as insomnia, bloody noses, weight changes, delusions)
_____ Family gatherings and/or Social settings (fights, change of social group in favor of drinking or drug using friends)
_____ Emotional stability (wide mood swings, over reacts to minor set backs)
*****
2. Is Chronic Pain causing the person you are concerned about to:
_____ Use someone else’s prescriptions
_____ Use more than prescribed, or for pain that hasn’t started yet?
_____ Have more than 1 doctor prescribing,
_____ Overstated symptoms to get meds.
Following a drinking or other drug-using episode by the person you are concerned about,
have you felt:
　
_____ Embarrassed or afraid of what others might think
_____ Scared
_____ Upset or angry
_____ If you were a better parent/spouse/friend, it wouldn’t have occurred
_____ Confused about what to do
Have there been:
_____ Family fights (separations or threats of divorce, young adults thrown out of the home)
_____ Promises or attempts to quit or control the chemical use
_____ Attempts by family members to control the chemical use (extracting promises, hiding the chemicals or alcohol, using with them to show its impact)
If you have answered yes to more than three of these questions, you will have enough information to intervene.

(c) M.D. Meagher 1987