A relationship especially marriage with a drug-addicted husband can bring negativity, chaos, emotional stress, and even violence sometimes. Especially if children are involved, this can cause conflicts over parental responsibilities, neglect, and abuse which is all because of drug addiction.
Normally, a marital home is supposed to be a haven that provides shelter from danger to a wife. So being in a relationship with a husband that has a drug addiction can lead to an unhealthy relationship. Helping a husband get rid of his drug addiction is a challenge that takes time and effort.
Drug addiction Sometimes doesn’t use to be obvious at the beginning of a relationship, which might same as normal drinking sometimes, or it is there but the husband hid it. And mostly, when a person is addicted, they choose their drugs over their wives, children, and any other thing.
It might take years to figure out whatever is going on, and when the challenges become too much, some wives will choose to leave their husbands instead of facing the challenges, and no one can blame them for this. If your husband is addicted to drugs and you set a journey of helping him to get rid of that addiction. Then you are in the right place. Continue reading!!!
Accept Everything
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Addiction is usually painful and has a stigma surrounding it. Sometimes family members and loved ones turn a blind eye to it, and sometimes it is easier to pretend that there is no problem. But neglecting the issue will not solve the problem, but facing the addiction will help you have control of what is going on, and which step to take next.
Read on addiction
Knowing addiction will help you to get a clearer picture of how to tackle the problem. Remember this is not the person you marry not this is what you dream to see in your marital home. And your husband does not like the state he is in, and you are his strongest support.
Learn About Codependent Relationships
Understand that addiction is a family disease, so it is affecting both you and your husband, and if you have children, it can also affect them, and the longer you live with him, the more you will be shaped into it. For example, you might be feeling scared when he is not back home, obsessed with every move he makes. And you will end up finding yourself in another disorder. So make a change in yourself and this will reflect on your partner also.
Seek help from a support group
While you might feel you are alone in this, understand that there are partners who are dealing with the same problem. You can seek help, guidance, and support from people that understand what you are going through.
Know your limits
It is also important for you as his wife to know your limit and draw a line in the stand. Whether it is a financial line, verbal or physical. Knowing your limit will help you know how much you can tolerate him and find a solution to that.
Take care of yourself
Living with an addicted husband is not easy so you have to take care of yourself, this will allow you to take care of them, simultaneously focusing on your well-being because taking care of yourself will give you the strength that you don’t even know you have, you can also seek advice on self-care.
Don’t lie to your husband
Lying about your husband’s drug addiction behavior will not help him in any way, don’t make excuses because of your partner, e.g asking for leave, or calling in sick. Allow him to take full responsibility for his behaviors, this will help him understand the consequences of what he is doing, and how his behavior is affecting your relationship with outsiders.
Stop Avoiding the issue
Many wives avoid their husband’s drug addiction issue because of fear of the consequences or they are afraid things might change. But there is a popular saying, the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know. And this makes many people stay in an abusive relationship rather than facing the issue and understanding how to solve it. Don’t ignore your husband’s problem, learn how to solve it, and start walking through that path.
Don’t blame yourself
You are not the cause of his problem, although, genetics, social factors, and family can be an influence, don’t assume is because if you, the choice of drug addiction is with your husband. He choose those drugs and you are not to be blamed in any way.
Advice him to seek help
Many wives feel unloved and unattended when their partners turn to drug addiction. And it is a common belief among many wives that their husbands find them unattractive so they think their spouses find their drugs more attractive than their wives. But is not all like that, sit and talk to him to go to rehab, this will help him quit the drug addiction.
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Learn patience
You might be eager for your partner to change their drug addiction behavior, but change usually happens gradually, it will take time for him to understand how his behavior is affecting your relationship. And it will also take time for him to discover which recovery path will work for him, so at this moment, you need to learn and cultivate patience, this is the best companion that will accompany you on this journey.
Manage stress
Help him to manage stress with activities like listening to inspirational podcasts, making time for supportive friends, or attending a support group for spouses of addicts.
Detach with love
This is a concept that most families use when their relatives are suffering from drug addiction, this concept teaches how to let your husband make his own mistake. For example, if he passes out during extremely cold weather, you can cover him with a blanket but don’t help him to bed. This means you showed him love but did not cover his actions.
Set an intervention
This is a process where you make your partner understand that he has a problem using and abusing drugs. You can seek help from a trained interventionist where the two of you will have a conversation with respect and honesty. But this process will take time and effort from you.
Implement healthy habits into your routine
Here, you can start with a healthy diet, since drug addiction has a great effect on health, make sure your husband is eating a healthy diet, this will somehow reduce the effect the drugs might have on his body.
Hobbies
Sometimes, you need to find things that will take his mind off those drugs, for example, check what he loves doing, like reading, watching, or playing. Encourage him to do his hobbies. This will reduce the amount he will think about the drugs and eventually reduce the intake of the drugs.
Spiritual activities
You can encourage him to attend religious activities, and volunteer in orphanages and other related places, this will keep him busy and occupy his mind.
Good sleep
Lack of sleep has a great effect on health generally. Encourage your husband to have a complete night sleep cycle because the majority, of lack of sleep, is what causes drug addiction. Because for example, maybe he can’t sleep except under the influence of drugs. When you help him to sleep naturally, you can as well help him get rid of that drug addiction.
Show support
When your husband is finally ready for treatment, don’t discriminate against him, instead, show support, attend the therapy meeting together, encourage him, to attend recovery meetings, read recovery books, download recovery videos and watch together, and continue doing whatever it will take for him to come back normal.
Expect things to return the way they are
This is the last step of how to help a husband with addiction. When your husband accepts to go to rehab, don’t expect things to go back to the way they were before, accept your life as a new page and beginning, and put in your mind a fantastic and awesome life that awaits you. Learn what it means to embark on a recovery journey and support your husband.
Final thought
A drug-addicted husband does not mean your happy marital days have come to an end. There are a lot of ways you can help your husband quit drug addiction and above are 20 out of many. If you find yourself in this kind of situation, don’t panic, remember there are other couples in similar situations and can overcome it. Set a journey to overcome it and you will surely succeed.
