You're listening to the Love Over Addiction Podcast.

Hello! How are you guys?

Okay, today we're going to be talking about a subject that I know a lot of you

might be a little afraid to listen to, and I only say that because I was very afraid

when I love somebody struggling with diction to listen to the topic about abuse.

I am so sensitive to the fact that A, this is a super tender subject

that a lot of us, myself included, want to kind of stick our head in the sand

and pretend that the ones we love really are not actually abusing us

because if we admitted to ourselves that what they were doing was considered abuse,

that would mean it was really, really bad.

And if our marriage or relationships are really, really bad with loving someone struggling with addiction,

it means we might have to do something about it, like leave them

or do some really uncomfortable things, right?

And I get it. I get with my whole entire being that loving someone that struggles with addiction

is incredibly painful and difficult.

But here's what I want to tell you, is that even if you decide to leave,

especially if you have kids with them, you still need to figure out how to deal with the abuse

because they don't change just because you leave, right?

A lot of times, particularly when we're dealing with abusive behavior,

we can try to talk to our loved ones to try and convince them that what they're doing is wrong,

that what they're doing is hurting us, that they need to change and that we're not,

we're not deserving of whatever abuse we're receiving,

...