Living with an alcoholic partner: Problems faced and coping strategies used by wives of alcoholic clients PMC

The language we use around people with addiction disorders are powerful enough to help or hurt them. Find out how you can help and be a positive influence in their journey to be alcohol-free. Kristeen Cherney is a freelance writer and PhD candidate who specializes in covering topics related to mental disabilities, women’s health, skin health, diabetes, thyroid disease, asthma, and allergies. She’s also currently working on her dissertation, which explores intersections of disability studies and literacy studies. When she’s not researching or writing, Cherney enjoys getting outdoors as much as possible. Consider professional help or support for you and your family.

For years, I wondered if my father’s alcoholism defined me. Here are the lessons I learned and the mottos I live by to be a healthier parent. But what you cando is support your loved one in their recovery.

Therapy

You may worry about where you’ll live, their reaction to the news that you’re leaving or that they won’t be able to survive well without you. Talking to a mental health professional or someone you trust can help you work through these issues. They’ll help you address your fears and start figuring out what you need to move forward – whether that means leaving or staying. Second, most addictions stem from unresolved traumas and/or are accompanied by co-occurring, untreated mental health disorders.

• Your alcoholic husband or wife could be supporting your family financially.
• What could you expect from living with a functional alcoholic?
• If you don’t feel like you can come to your spouse with this mindset, you think someone else in their life could do it better or that your spouse may be open to listening to someone else, that’s okay.
• By not addressing the deeper issues and learning coping strategies for triggers, you’re simply setting yourself up for failure.
• There are many treatment options available for people misusing alcohol.

However, the effects of alcohol can certainly make abuse worse. Domestic violence is inexcusable and lots of times doesn’t change despite promises and mental health help. The problem is that leaving is often the most dangerous time for people being abused. Because abuse is often about control, when the abused partner leaves, the abuser is triggered. If you’re leaving an alcoholic partner who is also abusing you, you may want to speak with a professional about the safest way to do so.

La Hacienda’s Treatment and Recovery Blog

They may collect DUIs , endangering the lives of family members and friends along with those of other drivers. Problem drinkers can find lasting sobriety through treatment, but if they wait too long to ask for help the consequences for everyone may be too severe to overcome. At its worst, it can be a living nightmare that leaves loved ones desperate to escape.

For cases where you feel you can’t do anything anymore, treatment services from different treatment centers or treatment facilities can help you and your loved ones fight and recover from alcoholism. Seeking treatment may sound like a daunting task, but it is the effects of combining alcohol with other drugs important to remember that you are not alone in this. AUDs are traditionally characterizedby their ability to rob people of impulse control. As such, many mental health professionals describe alcohol use disorder as a disease affecting an individual’s mind.

But, as with drug addiction, an addiction to alcohol is considered a chronic, or long-term, disease. More than likely, your loved one knows the dangers of AUD, but their addiction is so powerful that they have a hard time controlling it. If you’re living with someone who has AUD, it’s important to understand what’s behind the addiction to alcohol and to learn how to cope. Here’s what you need to know to overcome the challenges of alcohol addiction.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

The best way to decide what treatment may be best for a person with an alcohol use disorder is to speak with a mental health professional. Family First Intervention recognizes how powerful the dynamic of a family system is and how important the role family members play in a substance user’s decision to accept treatment for addiction. We hope a family sees the need to seek professional guidance as much as the substance user requires professional guidance. We are privileged to be an integral part of your loved one’s decision to recover from functional alcoholism. Our clinical team is trained to treat alcohol use disorder as it is described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV . In addition to professional training, many of the counselors understand substance use disorders from life experience.

This can cause them to become physically or emotionally abusive. Here’s what to know about the three FDA-approved drugs that can help people who have alcohol addiction and their effects. This is an opportunity when your loved one’s family members, friends, and co-workers all come together to persuade them to stop drinking. It’s also important to have a neutral party present, such as a therapist.

Support for Loved Ones of Alcoholics

The alcoholic may be able to hide the alcohol, and it is far more difficult to hide the behaviors. This can be done alone or in a group setting, though it will usually manifest in the former for functional alcoholics. While a drink as stress relief in moderation is typical the cage, mast, & audit screening tools to assess if you have an alcohol use disorder for many adults, it is important to note if this is a repeated reaction. At La Hacienda Treatment Center has successfully treated persons with alcoholism for 50 years. Our treatment team addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the disease.

Group therapy provides a great support system for each patient as they can help each other with different struggles. For example, maybe an older patient has gone through empty nest syndrome before and can provide insight on how they worked through that feeling. In our intensive outpatient program , you will be attending the facility for treatment but will go home afterward.

Help Your Spouse Help Themselves

If you are in such a situation, it is imperative to leave and find safety. Whether that be enlisting the help of friends or family, calling a local outreach group, or calling the police to file a report and have them intervene. Leaving is usually much easier to say than do, but you must prioritize yourself and your family.

Recent research2shows that within a given year, around 13.9% of the population meets diagnostic criteria for an alcohol use disorder — the clinical term for alcoholism or alcohol addiction. Furthermore, data8from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism shows that 25.8% of American adults engage in binge drinking within a given month. If you’re experiencing emotional, financial or health issues because of your spouse’s substance abuse, it’s time to re-evaluate your situation. Understanding alcohol use disorders or alcoholism and how it affects the brain, body, and behavior can give you a better idea of what your loved one is dealing with and how you can best help them.

Living with an alcoholic partner: Problems faced and coping strategies used by wives of alcoholic clients

Those who have a supportive living environment may begin with outpatient alcohol rehab, whereas most patients begin with an inpatient program. In that form of treatment, they live onsite at a treatment facility and then transition to outpatient care in the community after completing inpatient rehab. Living community fairbanks recovery center in an unpredictable situation can lead to hypervigilance and anxiety. Left untreated, trauma can damage your physical and mental health. If your alcoholic spouse is acting in a way that puts you and your family’s well-being in jeopardy, you need to consider if staying in the relationship is worth it.

The more an alcoholic can see their part in the problem, the more likely they are to surrender to alcohol addiction treatment. Blaming others allows the alcoholic to be a victim, and their focus is to make everyone else see what they did wrong and not themselves. This delusional thinking on the alcoholic’s part can prevent them from seeing the need to seek help for themselves. The more they think everyone else is the problem, the less of a problem they have or need to address. Contacting a professional interventionist or other addiction professionals could provide you with some insight and feedback on these questions. When you read through the questions of these assessment instruments, you will see how interested they are in determining behavior as well as the effects of consumption.

Help them find professional support, like a therapist specializing in substance misuse. Aim to use “I“ statements to express how their drinking makes you feel. Addiction is a disease, and it can be complicated and difficult. Understand the impact on others in the home, like children, and get them the support they need.

They may even spend all their free time drinking or occasionally engage in dangerous behavior. However, they may use their successful career and lack of serious consequences as reasons why they do not have a problem with alcohol. In some cases, a person can have a problem with alcohol but still manage to keep up with responsibilities at work and fulfill their family obligations. In fact, addiction experts4have identified five subtypes of alcoholism, one being the functional alcoholic. A functional alcoholic4is likely to be well-educated with a stable job and family, and one-third of them have multigenerational alcoholism within their families. Unfortunately, because a functional alcoholic can still maintain a job and generally care for themselves and their families, they may be in denial that they have a problem.