Step 5: When is the
Appropriate time?

When does the intervention take place? Ideally, this has less to do with the family schedule and more to do with whats going on in the addicts life.

The optimum time for an intervention is just after a major event. Such an event would be being arrested, or when he or she has wronged (lied to, stolen from, cheated on, etc.) a family member, and the addict shows remorse or guilt. Another would be a spouse leaving. Yet another would be after an overdose. Although you obviously dont want to risk the addicts life by postponing forever, an intervention will be exponentially more effective after such events, when the addict is down and feels like his or her world is coming to an end.

Even in the absence of these situations, an intervention can be successful, especially if the family is close to the addict daily so that every little situation is known. An addicts life is a major roller coaster and the only way that addicts can deny their problem is to successfully hide these problems from those who love them.

A major consideration should be when the addict is sober. In the case of cocaine, methamphetamine, etc., this should be in the morning after the addict has slept. In the case of heroin or methadone or opiate-type drugs, it will be when they are withdrawing and not high. In either case attempting an intervention while a person is extremely high will usually not be productive because the addict can not see many of their problems and their attention will be fixed elsewhere.

In general, the timing of the intervention is crucial and needs planning, but at the same time an addicts life is very unstable, so opportunities present themselves reasonably frequently.

Click here to learn step 6: "What you should say".