Addiction is excessive usage of any substance ranging from alcohol, drugs, gambling, or sex, for instance. To get to the point of getting addicted, they would have probably struggled with a type of mental illness, trauma, or experience wherein the substance gives a temporary high.
Unfortunately, the consequences of addiction spill into relationships because of the behavior that accompanies addiction. Some users may resort to stealing money from loved ones to feed their addiction, while others become violent toward others. In other cases, some may isolate themselves. How addiction plays out in relationships differs from one context to the other. So, if you want to get away from such a circumstance, it’s best to sought after drug addiction help as soon as possible.
Should you find yourself in a situation wherein you’re experiencing addiction or have overcome one, and your relationships are broken, you can mend these with time, effort, and patience. Here are some of the ways that you can mend relationships broken by addiction.
- Find A Recovery Center
A rehabilitation center is a recovery center where you’re surrounded by professionally licensed therapists equipped to help you overcome addiction and re-integrate into society. While you’re in rehabilitation, you get to learn the skills you need to mend your broken relationships through talk therapy.
Talk therapy is when you have intentional conversations with licensed therapists regarding your addiction. You get to discover the foundation of the addiction, the triggers, and why it appears as if substance abuse is the only way to cope. It takes unravelling such dynamics to understand the situation for yourself from an expert angle. Only when you understand the dynamics can you explain them to others.
Licensed therapists can help you find methods of approaching the different loved ones that you wish to mend relationships with. One method might not work with another, so through talk therapy, you may leave the center with a strategy for reconciliation. Should you wish to attend the center, you can engine search ‘recovery center near me‘ and see which may suit you best.
- Apologize
Apologizing, in this case, goes beyond saying ‘sorry’. Apologizing to loved ones who’ve been affected by the addiction is a process. You may have to try and explain how the relationship got to the point that it has. Hence, talk therapy is important in a rehabilitation center. Within the several attempts at explanation will have to be apologies as they’re more than once off.
Having apologized, you have to commit to changing the behavior that put a strain on your relationship in the first place. Behavioral issues as a result of addiction are addressed in rehabilitation, so you get to practice the skills you learned from your therapists.
Remember that it may take time for people to respond to your apology as responses depend on situations and personality types, for example. You can also expect not to get the responses you had wished for from certain people. Rehabilitation equips you with skills such as acceptance in such situations so that you don’t relapse.
- Give It Time
Giving the relationship time means, after having reached out to your loved ones in different ways such as letter writing, you avoid putting pressure on the people to respond the way you wish them to. Some of them have to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally from the various scenarios they experienced due to the addiction. People heal at different times, and you may have to be patient with them as you wish for the relationship to become stronger.
- Learn About Addiction Together
You can consider inviting your loved one to learn about addiction together with you. This may mean reading different materials about addiction, listening to podcasts, or watching documentaries that explain various dynamics of addiction. The more you learn together, the higher the chances of understanding each other and why the relationship took a strain. Having equipped yourselves with some general knowledge, you can attend therapy together.
Therapists can guide you and your loved ones through difficult conversations that you may be hesitant to have. Left to your own, you may end up arguing and misunderstanding each other, which may worsen the situation. A therapist can give you both practical activities to work on, which may help the relationship, such as journaling.
- Have Fun Together
Having fun together reminds your loved ones how much you enjoyed each other before the relationship took a toll. You can participate in activities that you used to do before you drifted apart. You can also suggest activities that would be exciting to all of you, which provide a temporary escape from the reality of your relationship. Once the excitement dies down, you may find that you’re all in a positive mental space to address the serious aspects of the relationship.
This strategy is different from sitting down in a confined space with the sole purpose of discussing your relationship. A change in environment may help pad the conversations and steer them in a positive direction.
- Positively Let Go
A tough reality is that, in some cases, people would rather let go of the relationship completely. As devastating as this is, mending a relationship may mean positively letting go. This means not fighting the person’s decision but accepting it and leaving with words of positivity rather than anger and bitterness. A therapist can help you sort out thoughts and emotions that come from having to let go of a relationship as a way of mending it.
- Overcome Addiction
Overcoming addiction is one of the strongest ways to mend broken relationships. Once people see a healed, renewed, and reformed version of you, they may consider getting to know that current version of you. On the other hand, if you’re still battling addiction, people may resort to defending themselves by retreating into their shells in fear of getting hurt again.
Conclusion
Mending broken relationships due to addiction is a process that requires patience and intentionality. You can consider going to rehabilitation to have the skills to reach out to the people. Apologize to them and learn about the addiction together. Try to have fun together to re-live the positive times, though, in some cases you may need to let go. You can attend therapy together and eventually mend the relationship by completely overcoming the addiction with the help of professionals.