Your call could be the first loving an addict step in helping your loved one reclaim their life—and giving you peace of mind. Before anything else, it’s important to reframe how we see addiction. It’s not laziness, weakness, or lack of care for the people around them. It is, in fact, a chronic brain disease that affects motivation, behaviour, memory, and impulse control.
Taking the First Step Toward Healing
More importantly, it’s about answering them honestly, giving yourself the grace and lack of judgment that you deserve. But I accept the reality that is and I will continue to do for myself what they could not do for themselves so my children will not share the struggles of the past. I focus on what I can control, and I take full responsibility for my own life.
- Another important factor is setting clear boundaries both before and during the breakup for a smoother transition.
- We are focusing on building a drug-free peaceful community.
- Seeking professional counseling or family therapy can help you process difficult emotions, regain perspective, and prevent resentment or enabling tendencies.
- By prioritizing your well-being and connecting with the right mental health professionals, you’ll be better equipped to offer compassionate support to your loved one while also taking care of yourself.
- By setting boundaries, you can help create an environment in which the addict feels safe and supported.
Educate Yourself about Addiction
Maybe you give them money even though you know where that money is going to go. Maybe you keep bailing them out of difficult situations despite your better judgment. Setting and sticking to boundaries is an act of self-care and self-trust—and it’s an act of love toward the addict. It’s understandable to want to protect and care for someone you love when they’re suffering from addiction.
Find the Best Alcohol Treatment Center Reviews for You
Once the decision to leave has been firmly established, transparent communication is step number one. Having a well-established support system plays a crucial role during this phase as well. Loving an addict can take its toll on your own mental health as you set aside your own needs in service of theirs. Taking the time to prioritize self-care is an essential part of maintaining a healthy balance while loving an addict.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. -Nelson Mandela
Obviously there are real struggles occurring, but there are safe ways that you can love an addict without harming yourself in the process. First and foremost, when you love a drug addict, they are not going to be able to love you in return. That doesn’t mean they didn’t love you before their addiction, and it doesn’t mean they can’t return to loving you, but when you’re in the midst of addiction, that’s your priority.
While some cases of addiction have clear and present signs, others are less apparent, particularly to those closest to the addict. Look for ways in which the addiction has had a negative impact on their lives and the lives of others including with yourself, others they are close to, their job, and changes to their health and finances. Sometimes looking at the effects of the addiction can help you better understand the severity level of the addiction. You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
Support Resources for Couples Affected by Addiction
Enabling is never about helping them, it is about comforting you. Staying connected with an addict can be difficult, but it is important to remain connected and supportive. This can be done by keeping in touch with the addict and offering support when needed. It is also important to remember that the addict needs space to make their own decision, so it is important to not be too intrusive in their life. Most people abusing alcohol in a relationship are not proactively trying to hurt themselves or their significant other.
Substance Abuse Treatment
- Her approach, grounded in self-examination, self-respect and self-care, guides us through the changes we need to make in order to break the cycle that holds us at the addict’s beck and call.
- Not setting boundaries will enable your loved one’s addiction to continue.
- For example, you might decide to tell the addict in your life that you will no longer listen to them complain about their lives.
- The pull it has on him, the lies, the nights ive spent waiting up only for him to say his famous words, “I’m sorry” .
For almost 15 years, I was in terrible relationships with my mother and sister due to their struggles with drug addiction. I was filled with negativity, anger, hurt, resentment and overwhelm. I was enabling both of them weekly with buying food, paying bills and in many other ways. It felt like every phone call or email was a chaotic crisis that needed my assistance.
Her approach, grounded in self-examination, self-respect and self-care, guides us through the changes we need to make in order to break the cycle that holds us at the addict’s beck and call. It could be alcohol and drug misuse; an eating disorder; smoking; gambling; an Internet, relationship, or sex addiction; or compulsive shopping and over-spending. If you’re ready to stop suffering in silence, join our waitlist today! You will receive resources that will help along the way to recovery for you and your loved one. By constantly stepping in to solve amphetamine addiction treatment an addict’s problems, you rob them of the ability to develop resilience and take responsibility for their recovery.
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