1. First, Ensure Your Safety
Violence is often an element in an addictive relationship. If this is the case, or if you have any concerns that your partner may become violent when you try to leave, take steps to ensure your safety before you take any other action. In such a situation, the best plan is to leave first and discuss it later, when you are in a safe place and protected by a reliable friend or family member. If there is no one you can go to for this support, you can find a shelter in your community by calling the police or social services.
2. Get the Support of Family and Friends
Supportive family and friends are invaluable in ending an addictive relationship. Most people who are in addictive relationships are intensely attached to their relationship, no matter how destructive it may be. They may know that they need to leave. They may even want to leave. However, doing so brings immense anxiety along with it, and that anxiety often leads the addicted person back to the arms of the very one they want to leave. Having family and friends available who are willing to offer support and encouragement when the urge to go back strikes can keep a person away from the bad relationship long enough to break the addiction.
3. See a Professional Therapist
Sometimes, the bonds of an addictive relationship are too strong to break on your own, even with the help of those who care about you. If this is the case, the services of a professional therapist may help. Therapists who specialize in relationships or addiction will be able to help you realize where the roots of this addiction originate, which will give you the knowledge you need to break the addiction. A therapist will also help you strengthen your self-esteem so that you do not fall back into the patterns of addiction at a later time.
4. Join a Support Group
Formal support groups help you shore up your defenses against falling back into your former addiction. Listening to the stories and experiences of other group members will give you a new perspective on your own situation. The members of the group are also objective outside observers of your situation and can give you valuable insight about your addictive relationship that you may not get anywhere else. This insight is authentic because it comes from the points of view of people who have been where you are now and come out the other side.
Member Comments