Married to an Alcoholic: Supporting A Partner with AUD

This can cause you to isolate yourself from friends and family, so they don’t notice your troubles. Typically, when a person comes to us with an alcohol addiction, they will go through an addiction treatment programme. This includes a free addiction assessment, medically-assisted alcohol detox and a residential treatment programme made up of intensive therapy and 12 months of free aftercare. Whether you’re living with a functioning alcoholic, or someone with an alcohol dependency, life can be physically and emotionally draining.

However, you can provide information and support to make it a bit easier for your partner to seek out their own recovery. Many people living with alcoholics participate in individual therapy. Sometimes people involved with people with AUD need help to behave in a less codependent manner. Children of alcoholics tend to find many aspects of their lives challenging well into adulthood. They also have a higher risk of developing AUD or other substance use disorders themselves.

Recognize its impact on your relationship

After recovery, some people with AUD may need support from friends and family. You can help by offering unconditional support, including abstaining from drinking yourself. Children who grow up with a parent with AUD are more likely to misuse alcohol themselves later in life.

If you’re living with someone who has AUD, it’s important to understand what’s behind the addiction to Can You Overdose on Kratom alcohol and to learn how to cope. Here’s what you need to know to overcome the challenges of alcohol addiction. Making sure you‘re healthy and safe can make you a better support system for your loved one with AUD, however you chose to be there for them. You could steer them to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) for general education on alcohol misuse or the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator tool to find local treatment options.

How to Choose the Right Rehab for You

Offering help to a partner with an alcohol use disorder can be tricky. Start by reading up on alcohol use disorder to know the signs that someone has a problem with drinking. This will help make a stronger case that a spouse’s behaviors and actions are not healthy. These coping strategies cause their own harm, from developing substance use disorders or behavioral addictions to extending financial problems or causing harm to the children in the family. Family counseling involves the participation of other family members, such as children or close relatives, who may also be affected by the alcoholic spouse’s addiction.

When It’s Time to Seek Help

“Alcoholism, which isn’t a clinically recognized term, can hold some stigma,” says Sabrina Spotorno, LCSW, CASAC, a therapist at Monument. An online sobriety support group might be a helpful addition to care. Enabling occurs when someone else covers up or makes excuses for the person who has a SUD.

1. Spouses can play a vital role in recovery from an alcohol use disorder.
2. This behavior can come in many different dynamics and affect spouses, parents, children, friends and other family members of alcoholics.
3. When coping with your spouse’s AUD seems impossible, remember that you’re far from the only one, that there are millions of other men and women in the same position.
4. Sometimes it becomes difficult to separate the person they married from the person their spouse has become.
5. There are many challenges that a person might face when living with a partner, husband, or wife with an alcohol use disorder.

Avoid enabling them.This means you can’t take care of them when they’re hungover, make excuses for their behavior, or bail them out of jail if they are arrested for drunk driving. A spouse can confront the addicted person through a personal conversation or intervention.