Old 07-20-2018, 08:06 PM
  # 3 (permalink)  
Gottalife
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
 
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
This is pretty complex. Relationships are a eperate thing from alcoholism generally, but not always. I sometimes see newcomers in AA get together because they seem to relate so much. They can sit and talk long hours into the night. They seem like the perfect match to each other, but eventually they come to learn that in reality all they had in common was a disease.

I guess that the same could apply to the still suffering alcoholics who got together. A disease with a good dose of co-dependency is what holds some realtionships together, and it is very hard to break out of.

Alcoholics who are recovering, do so at different rates. So after the first few days the tension begins to build. One is going too fast, the other too slow, one is doing it right and the other is doing it wrong. It's a recipe for disaster.

This is a serious, life threatening situation so I will share an experience, not to scare you, but to highlight that your life may depend on what you do from here on.

A few years back I was called to a mental hospital to talk to a male alcoholic who had been locked up to detox. When he was released I went to visit him in his home. It turned out his partner was alcoholic and they were both drinking. I managed to get them to a meeting that night and one of the old timers there made a prediction to me about this couple, based on his experience.

He said "One will die, then the other will recover." A few weeks later the male died, and she is now in recovery. Frightening stuff, but this isn't a game, it really is life and death.

I hope you can use this experience to help decide what you need to do to survive.
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