Addition is a Family Disease
Damaged relationships can be repaired after addiction. When one person in a family develops a substance abuse issue, it doesn’t only affect them. No matter what their particular drug of choice happens to be, their addiction is a family disease because everyone is affected.
Someone who is actively using drugs will usually lie about how many drugs they are consuming or even deny that they’re taking drugs at all. This is one of the symptoms of the disease, and it’s quite common for addicts to manipulate loved ones if it means they can get resources such as money and food, a place to stay that will support the addiction.
How to Rebuild Relationships
The key to healing from addiction and rebuilding trust after the addict in your family has hurt all of you, let you down, disappointed you, caused all kinds of chaos more times than you can count is a drug and alcohol treatment program.
Then that individual must take responsibility and deal with the aftermath of events that occurred when they were still using. One thing that must be done is to eliminate any unhealthy relationships. They will do more harm than good. Relationships with individuals who actively use could be the reason that you slip back into relapse.
Addiction is an equal opportunity damager and destroyer of relationships. Anyone close to you has the potential to be affected by substance abuse. Whether it’s your spouse, your parents, your children, and your friends. I’ll give you some tips to use that can help rebuild relationships. The perfect time to start rebuilding burnt bridges, as I call them, with family and friends is in treatment.
Reach out to those people you want to reconnect with. Send an email, send a letter, give a phone call, but you can let them know that you’re in the process of getting your life back on track and you would like for them to be a part of it. Be honest and direct about what you want. Apologize for what has happened and ask for forgiveness, but I don’t want you to beat yourself up over past events.
Once you have asked for forgiveness draw a line through it. Move on. You can’t change the past, but you can move forward from this point and make better decisions. Initiate contact with your loved ones. Your family and friends may be hesitant about contacting you in the early days of your recovery, and trust is probably still an issue with them. Let them know that now you are a healthier version of ourself, free from chemical dependency.
Keep attending your meetings, keep attending your counseling sessions, and then your loved ones will see you walking the walk, and they will see that you are trying to get your life back on track, and you will demonstrate to them that you are serious about your recovery.
You don’t have to discuss what takes place in your sessions, but you can let them know that you’re on the right track. Be patient. It takes time for your loved ones to come around after you have lied to them and betrayed them, and there are trust issues there. They may not believe that you have been transformed by such a short time in treatment, but as time goes by, they will see you making an effort, to be honest, and direct with them. Trust will develop over time.
Moving Forward
Start living in the here and now. Deal with issues in your life as they come up. Don’t let things pile up in your relationships. Be honest and always ask for help if you need it. Additional support is always available, and if you need help, do not hesitate to reach out.
Reach Out To Us
Here at Burning Love Ministry, we support you, and we encourage you today to please reach out to us.
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Remember, you don’t have to travel on this journey alone. At Burning Love Outreach, we speak out loud, so others don’t have to suffer in silence. Hold on, and remember don’t give in, don’t give up, and don’t give out.
