My son is 26 years old and on methamphetamine: How can I help him?

https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/children-and-families/coping-resources

https://www.narcononus.org/

I’m sorry for your situation. It’s terrifying every time the phone rings. I’m a retired drug and alcohol counselor with 19 years of recovery. I started working with families after I retired - for free - teaching them about the disease, boundaries, enabling etc. I had more success getting people into treatment when the family learned to let go and love from a distance. Not giving them help, but continued love and support. Never, ever give them money. I refused to pay for my family member to kill themself.
Eventually, when the addict is homeless and hungry, they reach for help.
The best thing YOU can do is help yourself. It’s a family disease and most families don’t realize that along with their loved one, they get sick too. Go to Naranon or even Alanon. Alanon is easier to find, they are everywhere!
Work on you, you can’t control him or anyone else. Good luck and God bless you
Terri

I agree. You can help her m by helping/protecting yourself first, especially if he’s living with you.
If he refuses to seek detox or rehab on his own, call 911 when he begins to exhibit signs and ask for a PERT technician. They will perform a psych evaluation.
If in a public place police can put him in holding tank for being under the influence.
All the best to you.

I am a professional in mental health and also on my own journey. In my opinion, as a consumer and professional therapist, the 12 step programs of AA and NA are hands down, a huge help. (and no cost)

Sometimes a rehab first or an intensive outpatient chemical dependency program is needed and then start going to meetings soon after or concurrently, if in outpatient care.

Naranon and Alanon are for the family of addicts and alcoholics. This can also be very helpful and both are 12 step programs. (no cost)

On a more careful, 2nd read, I see that he is having some manic-like thinking. So, a dual diagnosis program would be good. He might have underlying bipolar, or a predisposition to bipolar, but meth can absolutely induce mania, even hallucinations are common.

I'm sorry you're in this position. Meth ruins lives and communities. I am a criminal prosecutor in a rural area and there is meth everywhere. If your son in not amenable to treatment of any kind right now, I have two possible suggestions: 1) Talk to an attorney about guardianship. I am unfamiliar with the laws in California, but I live in a very conservative state and guardianships can be obtained over a legal adult if they are in this situation, particularly if they are younger. From a legal perspective, it's actually good that your son has bipolar as well because you can use that as the basis for your argument - e.g., that he does not manage his mental health diagnosis, which leads to the drug use, which exacerbates the mental health issues, which cause him to not be able to support himself, or whatever the case may be.

2) Call law enforcement on him. No parent wants their kid to go to jail, but sometimes the threat of jail time or prison is enough to get someone motivated to seek help, even if the motive at that time is only to remain free. Many times, once someone is involved in a program, the motivation begins to shift from avoidance of negative consequences to self-improvement and reflection. The courts have many programs for addicts that they can be "forced" into (the alternative being incarceration), and those can look very different depending on what stage of the case he is in. I've told defense attorneys to have their clients go to treatment and follow the aftercare recommendations in exchange for a plea offer of a misdemeanor and probation. We also have a drug court program that the court system manages - very tough, but if completed the participant gets to withdraw their plea of guilty (which they enter before starting drug court) and the case is dismissed at the end. It has a very, very high success rate (something like 90%). Long story long, if you have a prosecutor and/or local judge that is sympathetic and wants to deal with the addiction problem instead of just warehousing someone in prison, your kid should come out better for it, even if he has to sit in the local jail for a while.

I know this is not what you want to hear but you can't do anything in this situation. Your son is 26 years old, he is going to do what he wants to do no matter what anyone does. You can have him put in jail, you can have him committed, he can go to a long term treatment center, etc. but when he gets out of those places he is either going to quit or he isn't. I know it's hard to watch your son like this, I went through it with my brother and it's heart breaking, but I finally accepted the fact that he is going to do what he wants to do and you can't make them do anything they don't want to do. That being said, you can join support groups and you shouldn't enable him, don't give him money, don't let him live with you if he has illegal drugs in your home, if he goes to jail, do not bail him out, etc. This is probably the worst thing you can do for your son, but he has to know your boundaries and what you are and aren't going to do for him. But the simple answer is, there is nothing you can do until he asks you for your help. I'm really sorry to say that and I will pray for you and your son.

@azcardsfan
They are only going to quit when they are ready to quit. My brother was in treatment, prison 4 times, jail, long term treatment and he is still on meth. They only quit when they want to quit. He is 26 years old, it's up to him to quit. Maybe he will quit after going to jail, but chances are he probably won't. It's sad and we want them to stop but in all reality it just doesn't work that way all the time.

Yes unfortunately he needs to want to stop. until then no amount of love, treatments and jails can help. You can let him know that Recovery is possible if he's interested in being done. And your willing to help him once he means business. Other than that their are support groups for you to attend for tools to help you focus on taking care of you called Alanon