Substance Abuse is one of the top reasons that lead to divorce or separation in relationships. Not all couples separate due to drug addiction. It may work out if the other partner could get adequate support and rehabilitation measures.
Learn more about the actions to avoid while dealing with the addicted spouse and how to balance drug addiction recovery and marriage.
Table of Contents:
- What is it Like to be Married to an Addict?
- Impact of Drug Addiction in a Marriage Relationship
- Signs of Drug Abuse in Your Spouse
- Things to Do when Your Spouse is Drug-Addicted?
- Can You Maintain Your Marriage Affected by Addiction?
- Actions to Avoid While Dealing with an Addicted Spouse
- Getting Help
What is it Like to be Married to an Addict?
Being married to an addict is tough. The partners could face several obstacles and find it hard to manage daily routine. There may be a lack of communication among the partners, and they may not get along often, which could eventually lead to a rift in the marriage.
Some of the significant traits of a fruitful marriage relationship are trust, respect, and communication. Drug Addiction might affect these important traits leading to ignorance and hatred.
Constant mistrust and lack of effective communication might lead to anger, loneliness, resentment, and sadness. An addict will hardly have a stable mind, and he/she might not make a steady decision regarding the relationship.
If you are married to a drug-addicted spouse, this might physically or mentally make you sick. You will have to take up her responsibilities sometimes, which could be more challenging. Moreover, you may face several mental issues like anxiety, depression, and stress. Let us take a look at the impacts of drug addiction during marriage.
Impacts of Drug Addiction in a Marriage Relationship:
Several factors could ruin a romantic relationship, and drug addiction is one of them. Some of the impacts that the addiction could ruin your relationship are as follows:
- Increased arguments and unnecessary fights, and misunderstanding.
- Lack of trust.
- Lying about financial expenses and money-related matters.
- Selling house accessories without the partner’s consent.
- Involving in illegal business and hanging out with drug addicts, and neglecting the partner.
- Aggression and depression.
- Breaking the promises regularly.
- Being dishonest and unfaithful.
- Frequent causes of domestic violence.
If untreated, drug addiction might lead to extreme consequences that the partner might see illusions and experience hallucinations. It may even lead to suicidal thoughts or inducing murder intention. It is best to prevent this situation to find your spouse’s early signs of drug addiction.
Signs of drug abuse in your spouse
Some of the known signs that you can identify that your spouse is under drug addiction:
- Social isolation or associated with a new group
- Suspicious or secretive behavior, including lying about expenses or items of value, dishonesty about drug consumption, or inconsistent reports of whereabouts.
- Neglecting responsibilities and involving in secretive activities.
- Using money for drugs rather than for other essential items.
- Withdrawing savings for buying drugs.
- Mood swings and aggression.
- Change in eating or sleeping patterns
- Not taking hygienic food.
- Sudden or drastic changes in appearance.
- The onset of psychological or emotional problems, such as anxiety or depression.
- Lack of productivity in the workplace and involvement in fights with employees.
Things to do when your spouse is drug-addicted
If you are married to a woman who is under the influence of drugs, these are the things you should follow.
- Observe earlier - It could be possible that you might note any difference in their behavior in the initial stage of addiction. In that case, you should not neglect or deny things. You should keep track of the changes in their behavior and take the necessary action required to bring them back to normal. Sometimes, you may pretend that nothing is serious. Doing so is not good either for your addicted spouse or you.
- Know more about addiction - If you want to bring out your spouse from addiction, you should first know about addiction. Addiction is a disease, and it affects not only the person but also the entire family in different ways. You need to know more about addiction and regularly consult with an addiction specialist to bring out your spouse from addiction.
- Get accustomed to codependency - Codependency is a kind of obsession that could make your life revolve around that person. A small change or delay in any of the activities might threaten you or affect you mentally. For instance, you could get panic attacks if she doesn't call or come home, etc. You need to get accustomed to codependency that could help you make your life more effective and ultimately help your spouse get out of addiction.
- Prevent enabling them - You can help your spouse get out of addiction by helping her in various activities, but you should not make things easier or enable them in multiple ways. This could make things even worse. She could become more dependent than being the vice-versa and could search for you even for doing simple chores.
- Join them in a support group - Facing the battle alone may be difficult even with your support. Meeting people facing the same issue might pacify them and provide confidence that they could overcome the addiction. Support groups help people open up and share their opinions about their addiction and how they feel and collaborate and overcome addiction as a team. Make sure that you join her in a community that has helped many people to come out of addiction.
- Be strict sometimes - If you are too lenient, there are chances that your addicted spouse might take this as an advantage. So, you need to be tough sometimes and make her accomplish things not to become more dependent. This would help you to prevent being controlled by them.
- Take care of yourself - To help your spouse from addiction, you should be well and good. Do not compromise your health over your spouse’s health. First, take care of yourself and then help her out.
Can You Maintain Your Marriage Affected by Addiction?
Of course, yes. You can still maintain or even strengthen your marriage relationship while affected during the addiction. You should be honest to each other about addiction. You can get help from your friends and family apart from your spouse for a speedy recovery.
Several recovery programs could help individuals and couples with drug addiction, like family therapy, inpatient drug treatment facilities, medication, etc. Use trusted home-based drug testing kits to keep track of the drug traces in their body during recovery.
Actions to Avoid while Dealing with an Addicted Spouse
- Making false threats. For instance, threatening your addicted spouse by filing a divorce.
- Ignoring the problem.
- Joining yourself in substance abuse.
- Blaming your spouse for being addicted.
- Not taking care of your health.
- Forcing your partner into the drug treatment facility.
Getting Help
- You should regularly visit your addiction professional and get their recommendation on dealing with your addicted spouse.
- You can join her in the support groups that are exclusively constructed for drug abuse or addiction.
- Participate in family therapy and counseling.
Final Words
Drug addiction should not only be ignored but also should not be considered to be a sort of discriminatory practice. Make sure your spouse feels comfortable even if you know about their addiction. This kind of mindset could help your spouse get rid of the addiction in the shortest time possible.