The path of recovery is never straight. As you move forward in your recovery from substance addiction, you will encounter obstacles that require total mental and emotional focus to overcome. A healthy romantic relationship also deserves equal and constant attention from each partner.
You may find that simultaneously maintaining your relationship and pursuing recovery is negatively impacting your mental health. If you feel that you cannot devote enough of your time and effort to the relationship, tell your partner that you need to dedicate yourself to your recovery before you can be a present member of a healthy romance.
Be Honest
Your significant other probably knows about your recovery, and, if they care about you, they will understand that your mental health is a priority. If you decided not to share your recovery with your romantic partner and would prefer to keep your journey private, tell your significant other that you cannot provide the mental, emotional, and physical support that they deserve right now.
They do not need to know the details of your recovery. Leaving a committed relationship will be difficult, but stay honest with yourself and your partner. Explain that you need to devote all of your attention to staying healthy and that you cannot provide a relationship with the care it needs to grow.
Embrace Change
Your partner might be a critical member of your support system, and you want them to stay in your life. The transition from a romantic to a platonic relationship can be rocky, but the shift will benefit both partners. Friendships are enriching relationships that can buoy the soul in ways a romance cannot. The new dynamic may even be better than the last one!
Focus on You
Changes in this relationship may impact other relationships, but you need to prioritize yourself. Recovering from substance addiction demands herculean effort. Experiencing negative responses from those who disapprove of your decision to end a romantic relationship may cause you to re-evaluate, but you need to have confidence in yourself.
You are unable to give a healthy relationship what it needs, and ending the romance because you need to focus on yourself is mature. Walking away from a relationship that harms both parties is the right thing to do.
Alta Loma Transformational Services provides a supportive environment in which you can explore your unique needs and devise a recovery plan that works for you. A dedicated team of mental health and addiction treatment experts will work with you to establish tools that will help in relationships with yourself and with other people. Individualized treatment that responds to your needs will equip you with the mental and emotional strength to live the life you want. If you are interested, please call us at (866) 457-3843.
