Creating An Environment That Sustains Addiction Recovery
Addiction is commonplace in the current society. Therefore, someone who is struggling with addiction needs an environment where they feel safe and unembarrassed. They can greatly be affected by their environment.
Just like they got into the addiction, and one kind of environment exposed them to it. Similarly, having healthy social connections will provide them with the necessary support to come out of it.
Therefore, to improve the chances of success that has a direct correlation to the environment, introduce your partner to like-minded, sober people, and encourage a good routine.
Not just this, your partner will have to make an effort to follow the path of positive thinking to build not only mental health but physical health as well.
What Is Drug Addiction
According to American Addiction Centers,
Drug addiction, in the simplest terms is the strong compulsion to get and use substances, even though a number of undesirable and dangerous consequences are likely to occur. Addiction has been described as a medical disorder that affects the brain and changes behavior.
Many organizations call drug addiction a disease as it alters the way the brain functions. Dopamine, one of the brain chemicals sends a signal to the brain that the experience of using a drug is important and should be repeated
These changes can be long-term or short-term and also expose the person to various physical complications like cardiovascular diseases, death, etc.
Find An Inpatient Treatment Center Now
We are here to help you through every aspect of recovery. Let us call you to learn more about our treatment options.
Addiction can make a marriage begin to feel like a sinking ship, but it isnt always irreparable. Many couples who are facing addiction are able to work through the problem together and improve their relationship. Some spouses may not wish to save their marriage, but still want to get their partner the help they need to become sober.
Also Check: Can You Gain Weight While Addicted On Crystal Ice
How To Cope With A Spouses Drug Or Alcohol Addiction
It can be challenging to know how to help a significant other with alcohol or drug addiction. Addiction wreaks havoc not only on the addicted person but everyone who loves them, and often the spouse is the family member who feels the biggest impact.9 bottom Although you want to support your partner and encourage them to get the help they need, its also important to take care of yourself. You cant help someone else if your own needs are unmet its not selfish to make time for you, and it can also help you be a better partner.
Some of the ways to cope with a spouses addiction can include:
- Seeking social support from compassionate and understanding family and friends.
- Attending self-help groups designed for loved ones of people struggling with addiction. This might include groups like Al-anon, Nar-anon, or SMART Recovery for Friends and Family.
- Going to couples counseling or attending workshops offered by couples therapists.
- Attending family counseling sessions, either onsite at a rehab during treatment or with a professional in private practice.
- Engaging in individual counseling sessions to discuss your concerns and feelings and to obtain advice about how to cope.
Seek Therapy & Treatment
Dealing with a drug addict spouse can be challenging, leaving very little room to find comfort. There could be times when you are not able to come up with a solution to their troubles. Its like treading an unknown path, with the hope to find a ray of light.
Get peer or professional support. During these challenging times, when you want to give up, count on your family, friends, or therapists to seek help for substance abuse treatment and decide on the solution.
When considering where to get your husband the help he needs, you will have plenty of options that use different methods for winning this. There are many centers with doctors that will oversee the withdrawal period and physiologically work with their patients.
Being around other people that are experiencing similar scenarios can be very helpful for the addict. A great place to start looking for a good treatment is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Servicess Behavioral Treatment Services Locator.
Talk with your insurance company to see what expenses or programs they are covering and ways that will help you with the treatment costs.
Frankly, you will not always have a way out of a difficult situation. So, its best to rely on people around you for drug addiction help whom you trust.
Related Reading: 8 Signs for Recognizing Emotional Abuse
Recommended Reading: How To Get Free Help For Drug Addiction
How To Support Your Partner Without Enabling Them
For many spouses, there is a fine line between supporting a partner addicted to drugs or alcohol and enabling them to continue their addiction. Enabling occurs when a spouse makes it easy for the other spouse to continue to abuse substances. Usually, this means that there are few consequences for addiction and its related behaviors.
You may be enabling your spouse if you make sacrifices on your own life in order to protect their safety, reputation or substance use. For example, you might make excuses for why your spouse doesnt attend social events when the reality is that they were too drunk or hungover to make it to the party. You might pay their bills instead of paying your own because they cant keep a job. You might go to work late or miss work because you are attending to their needs after a night or drinking or drug use.
Prepare For Rocky Roads
Addiction is a chronic illness. Unfortunately, relapse is often a part of it. Addiction relapse rates are around 40-60%. This is similar to other chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Relapses dont mean that treatment didnt work or the person will never get better. Relapses are opportunities to learn from mistakes and move forward. Your addicted spouse wont be cured in drug rehab. Addiction recovery is a lifelong process. The work isnt over after time in a treatment facility. You can support them by:
Also Check: How Long Does It Take To Get Over An Addiction
Helping The Whole Family Heal From Addiction
At Genesis Recovery, our mission is to restore lives that have been wounded by alcohol and drug addiction. We know how devastating addiction can be to a marriage, but weve also seen many of our clients begin again and restore their marriages. Addiction doesnt have to be the end of you and your spouses love story.
Our treatment programs can help get your spouse on the path to long-term recovery and restoration. We also offer family therapy sessions to help mend you and your spouses bond.
Contact Genesis Recovery today at 619-797-7319 if youre looking for a drug addiction treatment program that can help heal your family from the inside out.
Do you or a loved one need help?
Avoid Judging Or Blaming Them
Your partner is already dealing with enough stress and anxiety while trying to get over the addiction. This is a long and painful process. So, do not lose patience or demoralize your partner for the addiction.
Judging your partner will strain your ties and ensue more quarrels. Judging someone is an ultimate relationship destroyer as it means opposing their behaviors and imposing your ideas and standards upon someone.
You May Like: How Do People Get Addicted To Alcohol
Learn About Meth Addiction Treatment At Gateway Foundation
Your marriage can survive methamphetamine addiction. However, your spouse requires professional treatment. At Gateway Foundation, we offer the support and services your spouse needs to take their first steps toward recovery. Through our personalized treatment and comprehensive programs, your spouse and your relationship can get back on the right track.
Dont wait any longer. Contact us today to learn more about our methamphetamine drug treatment program.
Dealing With A Spouse With An Addiction: What Comes Next
Once it has become clear that you are the spouse of an addicted person, it is normal to feel lost and overwhelmed, as though there is nothing you can do. Fortunately, this is not the case, as there are many ways you can help your spouse, and there are also many resources available to provide help for the spouses of those struggling with addiction.
First and foremost, it is crucial that you and your spouse both acknowledge their addiction and the problems it is causing not just for your spouse but in your marriage and family as well. This is often done in the form of an intervention, where friends and family can both provide support and clearly illustrate how many people are affected by your spouses addiction.
While it is important to be clear and candid, it is also important to avoid tactics like making threats. Threatening your spouse with divorce unless they agree to stop using will, typically, not work. This is not meant to be an indication of their lack of love or commitment, but that their addiction has progressed to the point where they no longer have any control over their drug or alcohol use.
In fact, the stress, shame, and other negative feelings that accompany the threat of divorce will most likely only drive them to further abuse. Instead, it may be more helpful to emphasize how much you care about them and their wellbeing as an impetus for getting them into treatment.
Don’t Miss: How Do Meth Addicts Act
Spouse Abusing Drugs Or Alcohol: The Physical Symptoms
How To Help A Spouse With Addiction
Addiction is a tricky disorder to deal with and can affect not just the addicted but the family and friends of those around them. Specifically, the role of spouse is one of the hardest to deal with. You want them to not be in pain, but you cant stand watching them spiral deeper and deeper into addiction. We here at CASA Recovery see and understand your pain and have tips for how to cope with this tough time in you and your familys life.
Read Also: Why Do People Become Addicted To Drugs
What You Can Do Right Now
If you find yourself feeling stuck, there are actions you can take on your half to alleviate the pain. Being the spouse of an addict is not easy. Thats why self-care is crucial during this challenging time. Fortunately, there are many steps that the spouse can take to help themselves. Some of the many options include:
Finding Help For An Alcoholic Spouse
Once people suspect that their spouses are alcoholics and that alcohol is preventing them from functioning normally, it is important to seek help. Many spouses attempt to treat their significant others disease on their own. This often leads to more stress for both parties and takes up valuable time. As a spouse, it is important to realize that being unable to help your loved one overcome alcoholism does not mean that there is a problem with you. Numerous programs exist to provide support for spouses of alcoholics and their families to help cope with and overcome alcoholism. Some are outpatient services and require the alcoholic to come to group and personal sessions on their own. Others are residential and require the patient to stay at the organizations treatment center, so that alcoholics are cut off from their supply of alcohol and can progress with in-depth, one-on-one group therapy. Different programs are available for peoples varying needs, and talking to your spouse is the only way to decide what is best for your situation.
Don’t Miss: How To Stop Mastur Addiction Islam
Substance Use Disorders: Signs Your Partner May Be Struggling With Addiction
Addiction is a chronic disorder where a person continues to use drugs or alcohol even though it causes significant problems in their life.1 These problems may include legal, financial, health, and significant relationship issues.2
When diagnosing an addiction, medical professionals use the term substance use disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists specific criteria for diagnosing substance use disorder. Some of the signs of addiction criteria include:3
- Spending a lot of time obtaining, using, or recovering from the effects of the substance.
- Continuing to use the substance regardless of interpersonal or social problems being caused or worsened by the effects of the substance.
- Persistently expressing a desire to lessen or regulate use of the substance and being unable to decrease or discontinue use.
- Taking more of the substance or for a longer period of time than initially intended.
Its important to recognize that although substance use disorder is a chronic disease, it can be effectively treated once identified.4
Get Help For Yourself
No matter what your addicted spouse decides to do, the next step you need to take is to find a source of support and help for YOU:
- Professional therapy Seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor will help you deal with all of the negative experiences that drug or alcoholism has exposed you to: domestic violence, trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, codependency, etc.
Don’t Miss: How To Leave Gaming Addiction
How To Pay For Treatment
There are a variety of ways to pay for addiction treatment. For example, some health insurance plans have a behavioral health component for substance abuse treatment that covers all or a portion of drug rehab. You can contact your insurance provider to find out if your health insurance covers addiction treatment or reach out to specific treatment programs to find out more about their payment options.
Understand How Addiction Works
Its easy to get upset, angry, disappointed, or frustrated with a loved one who is struggling with addiction. This is especially true in the case of a spouse who may be neglecting their family or work responsibilities or may be putting other family members in uncomfortable or dangerous situations.
Because of this, its important to remember how addiction works. While you may be tempted to blame your spouse for their lack of self-control or see their drug use as a moral failing, remember that addiction is not caused by a lack of willpower. Instead, addiction is a complex physical, emotional, and psychological condition that can be very difficult to overcome.
Addiction takes root in the brain as addictive substances actually change the way the brain works, from the types of chemicals it produces to the way it controls memory, decision making, problem solving, and risk taking. While your spouse does have the willpower to stop using drugs, their brain and body may be making this process very difficult. Understanding how addiction rewires the brain can make it easier to understand why your spouse is acting the way they are.
You May Like: How To Pray For Someone With An Addiction
Living With An Addict: How To Deal With An Addicted Spouse
Our intimate relationships are supposed to be safe havens, and our homes places that provide shelter from danger. Yet, being in a relationship with a partner that has an addiction to alcohol or drugs can lead to an unhealthy relationship with emotional stress and abuse.
For many Americans, a close relationship with an addicted partner can become a source of chaos, negativity, emotional upheaval, and even violence. Substance abuse can eventually destroy a couple by undermining trust, which weakens the bond between partners. If children are part of the relationship, conflicts over parental responsibilities, neglect, or abuse can occur as a result of one partners or sometimes both partners drinking or drug use.1
Helping a spouse face their addiction challenges takes a team effort. The team at American Addictions Centers is here to help by offering targeted treatment plans for alcohol and substance abuse for your spouse. We are committed to helping you and your loved one build a foundation to stay sober. Please know that when your spouse goes to one of our facilities, they are part of the AAC family. For more information, contact us now at
The Dos And Donts Of Living With An Addicted Spouse
Dealing with an alcoholic or drug-addicted spouse will have a massive impact on a persons life physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. As a source of assistance in these troublesome times for you, here are some of the things you should try to do when living with an addict, and when trying to discuss their addiction with them. Please remember, in such difficult times, you are never alone.The following advice applies not only to you the spouse of an addict but for anyone else living in the same home your children, other relatives, and friends.
Obviously, it would be far better if your addicted spouse would agree to treatment. However, getting them to that point is usually a major obstacle in itself, and can even prompt bursts of anger and outrage, especially if they believe that they are not even addicted in the first place. To that end, here is the right way to address their need for treatment when speaking with them about it.
Recommended Reading: Where Does Addiction Come From
