No one wants to face addictions alone, so you need to support your spouse and help him or her through the difficult parts of life. For example, if your spouse struggles with an alcohol or drug addiction, you need to see what you can do. You can provide your spouse with proper support and help out with any addiction problems. Once your spouse admits to an addiction, you may question what you can do to help your spouse overcome it. After all, addictions can cause people to question if they can avoid relapses, so you need to be there for your spouse. You must review what you can do as a spouse to help your loved one during this difficult time in his or her life.

Understanding What Your Spouse Needs

If you plan to help your spouse through an addiction, you need to learn how to support him or her. For example, if your spouse needs you to listen when he or she struggles, you need to develop your listening skills. Make sure you talk with your spouse, so you can learn how to help out during the process. If you can’t empathize with your spouse, try to give up something while your spouse overcomes addiction. That way, you can understand the struggles of staying away from something you feel addicted to. Either way, it comes down to focusing on understanding and supporting your spouse throughout the addiction recovery process.

Offer Your Support

Once you understand what your spouse faces, you need to offer support to him or her. You can do this in multiple ways.

Talking with your spouse to help out.
Stay with your spouse during difficult moments.
Encourage your spouse and help him or her realize the successes during an addiction recovery.

Sometimes, you won’t know how to support your spouse, so you need to communicate. Ask your spouse what he or she wants you to do to offer your support. Your spouse can mention ideas to help with the addiction. Make sure to ask every once in a while to incorporate new ideas and assistance.

Keep Your Spouse Distracted

When your spouse tries to overcome an addiction, he or she may think about the addiction at times. As this happens, your spouse risks relapsing while thinking about the temptation. If you want to help your spouse avoid the addiction, you need to keep him or her distracted to avoid thinking about it. Because of this, you must identify different activities you can try with your spouse to keep him or her distracted. These activities should require thought and attention so your spouse doesn’t think about the addiction. Ensure you see which activities your spouse enjoys to make it easier to remain distracted despite the temptation and potential relapsing.

Don’t Get Angry During Relapses

As you help your spouse, you must realize he or she may face relapses at times. When relapses occur, some people get angry at the person, but this approach only discourages the one suffering from the addiction. Instead, you need to focus on providing positive support to help your spouse during a relapse. When a relapse occurs, your spouse will feel shame and guilt over the situation, so you need to help as much as possible. If you get angry or react to it negatively, the guilt and shame will grow and make it more difficult to overcome the addiction. Instead, respond the way you think will help your spouse succeed. As you support your spouse and help him or her with an addiction, you can help your spouse overcome it. Doing so means working with your spouse, so he or she can rely on you and seek your help to avoid relapsing. If you want to learn about addiction recovery so you can help, make sure to call 833-497-3812.