Old 02-16-2013, 08:39 AM
  # 6 (permalink)  
EnglishGarden
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: new moon road
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Walking on eggshells is a terrible way to live, and of course you are a mess. Of course. Living with an alcoholic is traumatizing (you say he treated you like a queen, but I don't think that lines up with walking on eggshells....it seems more likely he blew hot and cold, which is typical alcoholic behavior and it serves to keep the loves one destabilized and easily manipulated).

He's still an alcoholic, in my opinion, functioning with an addict brain and addict motivations, and that means he is absolutely self-absorbed, self-justifying, and self-seeking. 55 days is but a wisp of abstinence and if I were in your position, I would regard him as an active, but temporarily dry, alcoholic and I would protect my psyche and my soul and my life accordingly.

I would structure my day as if he were in fact an active alcoholic, and I would structure my expectations for mutual respect and regard as if he were an active drunk (meaning, I would expect nothing from him). In my view, it will be at minimum one year and most likely three years before he is "well" enough to have empathy, to stop justifying his selfishness, to stop it with the mood swings, the blame-shifting, the poor-me's and the mind-twisting that are traits of all alcoholics and drug addicts.

You may think you want him home, but my feeling is that any spouse in active addiction or in early recovery is so volatile and so selfish that having one in the house generates nothing but misery. And all the "detaching" and "working on oneself" will not mitigate the experience of being emotionally and spiritually abused.

Yes, you have your own part to look at, but primarily in regard to whether or not you have treated yourself with love and respect, whether you have compromised your values and your soul in order to remain with someone who levels you consistently. Marriage should be about two people who support and encourage and protect and enhance each other. And an alcoholic marriage will never manifest that kind of loving union.

He will continue to bring you misery for quite some time. It is vital you release your expectations that he will be mutually respectful and mutually loving. It is almost impossible to do this, to make this change within oneself, without the support of a counselor or with self-focus in Al-Anon. Because without that support, you will fluctuate between two states: rage and pain. You will react to him as if you were a willow and he were the north wind blowing. And that has to stop, dear. Otherwise, you will crumble.

Set boundaries--emotional and practical--and regard him as dangerous to your health. And be vigilant. There is still a long road of early recovery ahead, and his is still an alcoholic's brain. Empathy and insight are sorely lacking.
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