I Left My Addicted Husband…And It Saved Our Lives

I Left My Addicted Husband…And It Saved Our Lives

Being married to an addict can be difficult and life-changing.  With addiction, often comes chaos and uncertainty.  All the happy memories can quickly be replaced with terrible moments.  This turn of events happens frequently to those whose husbands begin actively using drugs.  While you may be able to find a wealth of information about how to help your husband through his addiction problem such as a drug rehab centers in Texas, you also need to find ways to help yourself cope.  It is important to take care of your wants, needs, and feelings. 

Relationships Change

What began as a beautiful love story can change in an instant.  When your spouse suffers from drug addiction, it can be a struggle to continue finding ways to love them.  You feel responsible for them and don’t want to leave them hanging out to dry, worrying about what will happen to them.  However, it is important to remember that you also need to change from within.  You must change give yourself permission to think about yourself and let go of a harmful relationship.  It could possibly be the best decision you ever make.

The Start of Addiction

Addiction can begin in a number of ways.  Some husbands can develop an addiction after a legitimate injury, whether at work or at home.  After a fall or break, your loved one might become dependant on pain pills such as OxyContin. When this happens, only getting the pain pills become important to those with addictions.  Checking into a pain clinic or drug rehab program is a possibility, but sometimes even those don’t work and the addiction continues.  Drug addictions can completely turn lives upside down.  Work no longer becomes important to your spouse isn’t bringing in an income.  Bills go unpaid, cars get repossessed, and wives are left to try to find a second job to make ends meet.  When this happens, you know things can’t continue on like this and it’s time for a change.

The Shift to Harder Drug Substances

Sticking with a spouse through an addiction is a painful process. It’s even more painful to watch the switch to harder drug substances.  Try as you might, you watch your husband just become a shell of the person you once knew.  When a husband experience withdraws, they can often become verbally, emotionally, or even physically violent, focusing only on their need for a hit.  Women stick around because they don’t feel like they are abandoning this person they used to love, but there isn’t a lot you can do if someone with a drug addiction doesn’t first want to help themselves by seeking substance abuse treatment.

Know When It’s Time to Leave

Once you have reached a point of any kind of abuse, it’s time to think about getting out of this damaging relationship.  Instead of sticking around to see an ugly pattern continue to repeat, give yourself permission to let go and get out of this harmful relationship.  It may not be an easy choice, but it is most likely the right choice.  When your spouse realizes you are serious about getting out of the relationship, they could try to make many promises to get you to stay.  They may even promise to go back drug or alcohol rehab again and again.  Be wary of returning to a suffocating environment and begin to move forward with your life, making up for all you have lost over the years being married to an addict. 

Move Forward With Your Life

In order to move forward with your life, you must deal with the aftermath of a failed relationship with an addict.  It’s time to take care of you.  Seek counseling or join therapy groups to see that you are not alone and get perspective from others who have been in your situation.  Receiving comfort and words of wisdom from people who have walked in your shoes before can let you know that you can do it.  You can let go of a relationship in order to save your life.  It will be hard to full break away from the concern and care you have for your ex-husband.  You will still want to know how they are and what they are doing.  This is okay.  After all, they were a major part of your life and as human, we innately care for those who are struggling but proceed with caution.  It is a good idea to allow yourself a few months before accepting any contact or communication.  Ultimately, you need to know that you are in a good place and have your life back first.  Remember, leaving your addicted husband isn’t selfish or wrong, it’s giving you your life back and changing it for the better in the process.

 

Read more on how to tell if your loved one is Addicted Here

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