Blog
Loving Someone Through Addiction: From External Motivation to Genuine Change
When your partner struggles with addiction, the journey can feel like walking a tightrope. You want to support them, but you also want to protect yourself. Often, I hear loved ones say: “He’s motivated to get well as long as I’m in the picture.”While this external motivation can spark the first steps toward recovery, lasting change requires something deeper—internal motivation.
Loving Someone with Addiction: The Courage to Set Boundaries and Follow Through
Living with a partner who suffers from addiction is one of the most emotionally complex experiences a person can face. You love them. You’ve built a life together. You’ve seen their potential, their tenderness, their dreams. But addiction doesn’t care about love—it hijacks the brain, distorts behavior, and erodes trust.
As an addiction specialist, I’ve worked with countless spouses and partners who feel torn between compassion and survival. They ask: “How do I help without losing myself?” “When do I draw the line?” “What do I do when promises are broken again and again?”
This blog is for you.
Drawn to the Flame: When You're Attracted to People Struggling with Addiction
It’s a phenomenon more common than most realize: individuals who find themselves repeatedly drawn to partners battling alcohol or substance addiction. Not just once, but as a recurring pattern. As an addiction specialist, I can say—this isn’t about “bad luck” or chance. There's often a deeply rooted psychological landscape behind the attraction. And most importantly, healing is possible.
When Love Hurts: Breaking the Chains of Co-Dependency in Addiction
Addiction is not simply a matter of poor choices or moral failing. It is a progressive, life-threatening disease that hijacks brain chemistry, distorts reality, and robs people of their willpower, relationships, and often—tragically—their lives. When someone we love is drowning in substance or behavioural addiction, our first instinct is to throw them a lifeline made of compassion, protection, and unconditional support. But sometimes, that very lifeline can become a chain.
When Love Hurts: Breaking the Chains of Co-Dependency in Addiction
Addiction is not simply a matter of poor choices or moral failing. It is a progressive, life-threatening disease that hijacks brain chemistry, distorts reality, and robs people of their willpower, relationships, and often—tragically—their lives. When someone we love is drowning in substance or behavioural addiction, our first instinct is to throw them a lifeline made of compassion, protection, and unconditional support. But sometimes, that very lifeline can become a chain.
When Love Clouds Logic: Breaking Free from Codependency in Addiction
Loving someone who struggles with addiction is a heartbreaking experience. The emotional brain—the part of us that craves connection and wants to protect our loved one—often overrides the logical brain, making it difficult to recognize unhealthy patterns.