Experts understand that addiction isn’t a weakness or moral failing; it’s an illness, much like cancer or heart disease. And it often falls to family members and friends to convince their addicted loved one to seek help. The task can feel like negotiating an emotional minefield with anger, obfuscation and denial among the likely outcomes. How do you know if there’s a problem, when do you intervene and how? Dr. Timothy Fong, associate clinical professor of psychiatry and director of the UCLA Addiction Medicine Clinic, provided guidance in the July 2015 issue of UCLA Magazine.
