It is a well agreed upon fact that people should not date when they are struggling with addiction, yet it still happens every day. One person or two people who are addicted take a liking to one another and proceed into a dysfunctional dating relationship that ends in turmoil, destruction or sometimes even death. Dating while addicted is detrimental to both people, and should be avoided. Throughout Canada and the United States, people struggle with wanting to date despite not having conquered their addictions, such as addiction in Vancouver, Los Angeles and Montreal.
Receiving addiction treatment before entering the dating scene is not only recommended for a healthy relationship, it is essential to it. Addiction treatment does not just stop addictive behavior; it restores a person’s mental health and cognitive behavioral rationality to them. It discovers the core of the person’s underlying issues that spawned addiction in the first place and eradicates them. It gives the person the tools they need to function in the world with good physical and mental health. If someone chooses not to deal with these matters before dating, they are bringing all of that baggage, confusion and dysfunctional nature into a new relationship, which results in pain and frustration for both people over a long course of time. Who would willingly choose to do this to a relationship?
When someone commits to addiction treatment, they are also committing to protecting the hearts and minds of the people they will have close relationships with in the future. When someone chooses recovery over addiction, they are allowing their loved ones to heal as well as themselves. Addiction treatment detoxes a person of any substances they have been abusing, leads them through readings, assignments and exercises to discover what made them addicted in the first place and provides ongoing support to clients even after they have graduated the program. Inpatient rehabilitation has proven to be the most effective way to defeat addiction for yourself and for those in your life.
The importance of quitting your addiction before dating cannot be overemphasized. In addiction, you can only offer a romantic partner pain and devastation, but in recovery, you can offer a romantic partner all of your potential!