Comments on: Tough Love

By: recoveryhelpdesk

recoveryhelpdesk — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:07:59 +0000

Thank you for your comment Lisa, and for your work at Families of Addiction. I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.

By: Lisa at FOA

Lisa at FOA — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 03:27:47 +0000

Thank you very much for speaking the truth about tough love. During my brother’s addiction, most of the professionals we worked with recommended the use of tough love. We were told this is what he needed to help him seek treatment to get sober. This approach to substance abuse treatment is heart breaking for family members to implement, but since we did not know what else to do we did it. My brother ended up dying from his addiction. Yes, that really makes our love for him tough now.
If I had to do over I would NOT engage in any tough love methods or thought processes. Addiction is a deadly disease and needs to be treated as such. I would not treat anyone who was suffering from any other disease with the standards of tough love. I would encourage parents and other family members to not use the tough love approach in dealing with substance abuse. Instead seek reputable substance abuse resources that support a responsible approach to addiction treatment.

By: Tough Love Delays Recovery For Heroin Addicts

Tough Love Delays Recovery For Heroin Addicts — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:18:34 +0000

[...] Tough love is a term used to describe dysfunctional behaviors by parents that are intended to help the addicted son or daughter, but instead cause harm by perpetuating the addiction. [...]

By: Suboxone Treatment Cuts Crime, Incarceration

Suboxone Treatment Cuts Crime, Incarceration — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:08:54 +0000

[...] don’t share the cavalier attitude of many in the tough love crowd who view incarceration as a good [...]