Marriage doesn’t end the way it starts. Divorce rates are more than fifty percent in America, meaning a lot of marriages are ending every single day. Divorce happens for many reasons. People change. People are unfaithful. People aren’t as compatible as they thought they were. People become addicted to drugs and alcohol. People recover. People relapse. Whatever brings a married couple to divorce, the journey to that final moment and all of the legalities until it is official, can take a significant toll on mental health.
Relationships, emotional intimacy, and responsibility aren’t always highlights of a man’s personality when he is actively addicted to drugs and alcohol. Making a relationship work with another person generally requires having a functional relationship with the self. When the self is actively tied up in drugs, alcohol, and self-sabotaging behaviors, the relationship is dysfunctional. Many men, as well as women, seek out romantic relationships as a way to fill the void of what they feel they are missing in their relationship with themselves. Unsurprisingly, the results are unsatisfying. Men who go to treatment for drug and alcohol addiction learn that other people, places, things, and mind altering substances cannot fill the void of what they feel they are missing in themselves. Men are empowered when they learn that the power to heal and feel fulfilled is completely autonomous. Getting to that point, however, takes a lot of work.
The Good Men Project reports that “Divorce tends to increase the risk of men developing anxiety, depression, and drug abuse…On the other side of the issue, men with mental illness and drug abuse problems are more likely to experience a divorce.” Not only do men experience divorces of their own, they experience divorce from their parents. Children of divorce become adult children of divorce and grow up with very specific understandings of what a marriage does and does not mean. Marriage no longer means security or permanence. Marriage is an unstable possibility that could lead to abandonment and divorce. Coping with the realities and false truths of divorce can also take a toll on men’s mental health. As children, teenagers, or young adults, men may turn to substance abuse to try and cope with the upset occurring in their family home.
Thankfully, there is a way to heal. If you have found yourself trapped by the cycle of addiction, there is hope. Tree House Recovery in Portland, Oregon, shows men how to find freedom from addiction. Creating sustainable recovery through sustainable change, our programs help men reclaim their lives mind, body, and spirit. Call us today for information: (503) 850-2474
