Addicted Family Member

Thank you for your question. You and your parents will need support to cope with having a family member who is addicted to heroin. Nar-Anon is a self-help support group for the family and friends of addicts. The Nar-Anon website has a meeting locator to find a meeting in your area. The website also has a lot of information about addiction and how you can find help for your family. 

You mentioned wanting to find professional help. It wasn't clear if you were looking for help for your brother, your parents or the whole family. Because addiction is a family disease which affects the whole family, I would recommend treatment for each of you and treatment for the family as whole too. At the very least, you can each see a counselor for a few sessions to learn more about addiction and to cope with your feelings about his addiction.Treatment for your brother can be found through the Choose Help website. However, your brother has to want help.

As difficult as it may seem, there is nothing you can do to make your brother get the help he needs. You can have an intervention and refuse to enable him but you have to keep in mind that no matter how much you do, your brother has to decide he wants help. Enabling is when the family makes it easier for an addiction to continue. Some examples of enabling behavior are paying the addict's bills, making their appointments, giving them money, making excuses for them, etc. 

To find treatment, you can call the Choose Help treatment helpline at 877-830-7020 or go to the home page of the Choose Help website to locate treatment centers. If you or your parents have insurance, you can contact your insurance carrier to find counseling services in your area that will be covered.

I hope this helps and I hope your brother and your family gets the help it needs.