Divorce And Addiction: Guide To Leaving Your Addicted Spouse

Codependency can also cause the non-addicted partner to unwittingly enable unhealthy behaviors, which may encourage substance use and addiction. If your partner is recovering from addiction, the process can come with challenges, and it may take time to cope with those challenges, but you’re not alone. Recovery from substance use disorder can cause many changes in your marriage — not all of them positive. Substance abuse can cause behavioral changes, financial problems, domestic violence, and more. All of these are factors that can lead to divorce.

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I put a burden on sobriety’s shoulders that it couldn’t possibly carry. After decades of drinking, I stopped, and I expected all the pain to—poof—just go away. Enrolling in a peer support group helps to promote healing, understanding and independence for all parties involved.

How to Support Stigma Reduction in Opioid Addiction and Treatment

Drug and alcohol addiction can have effects on a person’s mind, body, and behavior. Divorcing someone who is actively struggling with addiction can come with a unique set of challenges. Divorce is not something to be ashamed of, especially when the benefits of divorce outweigh the perceived benefits of staying in an unfulfilling relationship.

Let yourself feel

Once you get addicted to a substance, it becomes your highest priority and impacts your family. I was writing the first draft of my book at the time; he couldn’t even get the genre right when people asked about it. He read a couple of chapters and said, ‘None of the characters are like me.’ He caused conflict with his family and mine.

• That is not a life lesson I want to pass along to my daughter.
• A drug addict can spend 50% or more of their income on substances.
• This can be disruptive, even if the change made was positive.
• There are many resources available through substance use counseling that specialize in divorce mediation and helping newly divorced people in recovery begin the process of rebuilding and moving on.

It took another six months to build up the courage and enough of a support system that I could leave him. I was at the time genuinely afraid he was going to kill our dog we had gotten together as a puppy, set my family’s home on fire as we slept, or come up with something else I couldn’t dream up. Thankfully, he truly was a coward, and nothing else transpired. Ultimately, you’ll need to listen to your intuition and inner wisdom. Your feelings and instincts about the relationship are important data.

• A lawyer with experience in these types of cases can walk you through the more complex aspects of this process.
• Feeling lost after a divorce is natural and common.
• People living with addiction may neglect the needs of others, as well as their own, in order to continue engaging in unsupportive behaviors related to their addiction.

“I thought, you know, I had a baby registry and I had a wedding registry. This is when I actually need things to restock my life. I need new sheets, I need new utensils,” the 39-year-old Howell said. It’s a gift registry specifically for rebuilding after divorce that’s also packed with vetted experts if needed and other resources. Also difficult can be the absence of items that departed with the ex-spouse. Yet it has been 11 years since I have truly felt safe, since I have truly felt loved.

Engaging in meditation practice may also help you enjoy alone time while helping you manage painful emotions and negative thoughts. But staying alone isn’t the same as enjoying being by yourself. If you feel lost after your divorce, divorce after sobriety it may help you to reconnect with your true self. You may feel you need to be with other people or you might feel like staying home alone. For example, you could set the goal of waking up at a certain time and making your bed.

Deal of the Day

It could be going to a new restaurant by yourself. This could start with spending more time exploring the things you enjoy and reconnecting with your own thoughts. You could start by setting smaller goals and then working yourself up to more complex ones. After a divorce, a part of you might miss the familiarity of your routines.

Signs Of Substance Use Damage To A Relationship

• Within a marriage, this can show up in many different ways.
• But staying alone isn’t the same as enjoying being by yourself.
• Individuals often turn to their support networks, finding solace and strength in sobriety groups, friends, and family who stand as pillars during these trying times.
• The remedy did not end with sobriety; that’s where it started.