When your loved one is in recovery, you will start to learn an entirely new language. It’ll begin with learning the language of treatment. You will start to understand things like partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and peer support recovery groups. As your loved one makes their way through treatment, you’ll find that it’s time to explore your role in their recovery. You’ll begin to learn terms like a codependent enabler, codependency, and breaking the chain of addiction. At Laguna View Detox, we understand the relationship intricacies that swirl around addiction, and we are here to help you make sense of it all.
What Does It Mean to Be Codependent?
Being codependent is about being so intertwined with another that you cannot function independently. While it can occur without addiction, codependent enablers are more common in relationships where addiction is present. In healthier relationships, there is more of a give and take between the two individuals. Healthier relationships involve interdependency; the two individuals in the relationship support each other in a way that allows both to grow and thrive. In a codependent relationship, the balance is off. Typically, one person is more dominant and takes charge within the relationship, and takes care of many of the household’s responsibilities. Conversely, the other will be more passive, have difficulty making decisions, and be more dependent.
What Does It Mean to Be an Enabler?
Being in a relationship with someone active in their addiction is hard. Watching a loved one destroy themselves is heartbreaking to watch, and you’ll inevitably want to prevent their demise. Over time you may find yourself making excuses for their behavior or failure to keep promises to others in your family. You may find yourself trying to fix things for them so that they don’t face up to the consequences of their drinking or using drugs. Sometimes it starts as simply as wanting to help them keep their job or not be seen differently by your children. Whatever the motivation, the result is that you end up enabling the very behavior you’re wishing would stop.
Can You Be a Codependent Enabler?
In relationships where addiction is present, it is a breeding ground to act as a codependent enabler. If you find yourself taking responsibility for most or all of the decision-making, parenting, and responsibilities within the house, you are likely in a codependent relationship. If, in addition to this, you are also acting to minimize the consequences your loved one faces from their active addiction, you are also enabling. Being a codependent enabler creates a vicious cycle and can leave you feeling that there’s no way out. You may think that you must keep everything under control or your whole world will collapse. And, while yes, parts of it may collapse as you make changes, changes are critical. It is doubtful that you can sustain the stress of maintaining responsibility for everything long-term without your own mental and physical health suffering.
How Laguna View Detox Can Help You With Addiction
At Laguna View Detox, we understand the complexities around relationships and addiction. We are one of the leading private drug rehab centers in Orange County. We provide luxurious, inpatient rehab treatment in one of the most beautiful areas California has to offer. Our staff includes some of the most experienced and most compassionate in the industry, and we’ll create a holistic treatment plan tailored to you and your loved ones. We will care for you while you safely detox and then guide you through inpatient treatment and aftercare. Contact us today and let us help you with your addiction!