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Changes in your personality can cause you to interact differently with the people around you — and not always for the better. Relationships thrive when you can effectively communicate with each other, but it can be hard to do that when you’ve been drinking. Keeping a distance will also prevent your loved one from influencing you to allow the addiction to continue or crossing boundaries.
While binge drinking doesn’t typically mean that someone has an alcohol use disorder, it is a practice that can lead to it. In the United States, 55% of the victims of intimate partner violence believed that their partner was drinking prior to a physical assault. While there is some violence by women toward men, it is mainly reported that there is violence by men toward women. If one or both parents don’t seek help for their alcohol misuse, it could eventually lead to separation or divorce. Although this may be necessary in some situations, it’s also well-documented how divorce adversely affects children. Studies show that depression and anxiety are more common among those who grow up with a parent who has a drinking problem.
Is Alcohol Affecting Your Relationships?
This may mean a decline in their personal hygiene, not caring about how they dress, not exercising and maintaining their body, and a slew of other consequences. Even if you have a powerful connection with the person you love, this can be diminished by a strong need and desire to drink. Are there times that you have had to cancel plans because of a severe hangover? Normal personality traits can disappear during intoxication and be replaced with selfish, angry, and egotistical behavior. If you notice some of the warning signs mentioned above, it may be time to take a closer look at the role alcohol is playing in your relationship and seek support. Peaks Recovery provides accommodating support for individuals who may be experiencing some obstacles in their recovery journey or are looking for a step down from an inpatient program.
While alcohol is commonly accepted, it can be life-changing, damaging relationships, careers, and even ending lives. According to the World Health Organization, about 5.9% of all global deaths are related to alcohol consumption. Alcoholism or alcohol addiction affects millions of people worldwide, but it affects the people you live with and love the most. Abusers knowingly and unknowingly hurt the people they are with and understanding how and why can help you to recognize when there is a problem and how you can fix it.
A Strong Support System Is Key
We might intend to meet a friend for one drink, and that might lead to a second or third, and then another bar. Then, three hours later, we are inebriated, disoriented, and drunk-dialing or stumbling home and starting a fight with our partner, which we either don’t remember—or don’t want to remember. For those who suffer from anxiety, a small amount of alcohol can help them in social settings by making them more relaxed and less self-aware. Beer goggles are often thought of as a myth, but according to research, there is some truth to the idea people seem more attractive through the lens of alcohol. “Alcohol’s depressant properties slow down the neurons in our brain temporarily, lowering pressure and tension from our worries,” wrote Watson.
Give us a call today to verify your insurance coverage or to learn more about paying for addiction treatment. If you are struggling with alcoholism and infidelity, how does alcohol affect relationships it’s always encouraged that you seek help with therapy and counseling. It’s never too late to get help putting the pieces of your life back together.
How Cutting Back or Quitting Drinking Can Save a Marriage
Some treatments involve individual counseling, group counseling, while some are more focused on peer-supported self-help meetings and groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. These programs also have guidelines for anyone thinking, “am I an alcoholic? ” With a plethora of tailored support available, it is vital to seek help – getting your alcohol-dependent partner to enter a treatment program could be one of the best things you can do for your relationship. Couples where one partner abuses alcohol has a very tough time getting breaking free from this downward spiral – however, all is not necessarily lost. There are many proven ways to combat this cycle of abuse – allowing the abuser and their relationship to recover. It’s not only romantic relationships that are unraveled by alcohol abuse, though.
If your partner has a problem with drugs or alcohol, getting him or her to enter treatment may be one of the best things you can do for him and your relationship. At AspenRidge, a rehab center based in Denver, we understand the complex relationship between alcohol and relationships and the impact it can have on people’s lives. Our mission is to support and treat individuals struggling with alcohol addiction, helping them rebuild their relationships and regain control over their lives.
Also, in one study, wives’ reports of husbands’ drinking predicted wives’ distrust of and perceived lack of support from husbands up to 5 years later (Wilsnack, & Wilsnack, 1991). In general, heavy and frequent drinking by the husband was predictive of lower relationship quality for the wife (Roberts & Linney, 2000). That is, drinking has the potential to both affect and be affected by events within the relationship. It is clear that the link between alcohol problems and relationship outcomes is a dynamic one. The current research aims to extend previous work in this area by evaluating effects of perceptions of partner drinking as problematic on relationship outcomes, and whether this varies as a function of partner’s self-reported alcohol use.
The link between alcohol abuse and poorer relationship outcomes is well established (e.g., Dawson et al., 2007; Leonard & Eiden, 2007; Leonard & Rothbard, 1999; Marshal, 2003). However, it is currently unclear whether the effects of alcohol misuse on relationship functioning are the same for men and women. This research focus may also be because of the extent to which AUDs have historically been theorized as a “male” problem (Haber & Jacob, 1997). In fact, relationship functioning is reported to be the poorest in relationships with discordant alcohol consumption, such that husbands are heavy drinkers and wives are not (Roberts & Leonard, 1998). Such couples report higher rates of negative interactions and hostile behavior (Jacob, Leonard, & Haber, 2001).
