Who is responsible for the recovery of a person with an addiction? Is it the afflicted person? Their therapist? Their partner? My guest, psychiatrist and addiction specialist Dr. Daniel Hochman would say all three! In fact, although addiction can strain intimate relationships, it is often the addict’s partner who can make the biggest positive impact in the addiction treatment process.
In this episode, we talk about how to treat addiction with a strategy that actually works, backed up by the latest and best science. You’ll learn what addiction actually is, how you can work together with your partner to beat it, and how you should seek support if you or your partner are suffering from addiction.
Dr. Daniel Hochman grew up in Houston, Texas. He went to college at University of Texas (UT) in Austin where he received two degrees with Honors as well as numerous academic awards. He completed medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, where he received the Global Healthcare Scholarship to pursue his interest in indigent care in Latin America. He is board certified in General Adult Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
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“The idea with addiction is that you’re going to get to this state of bliss, at least temporarily. One of the ways you break that down is understanding that it’s completely a false pleasure and that we don’t need to be achieving these states of bliss all the time.” – Dr. Daniel Hochman
Show Notes:
- What is addiction, exactly?
- What should you do if you or your partner struggle with substance abuse?
- Why the partner of an addicted individual is in a unique position to help
- The responsibilities of the addict, their partner, and the care provider
- The way addiction wreaks havoc on relationships
- How to get past the frustration of addiction and work together with your partner to beat it
- What to do if you suspect or know your partner has an addiction
“What excites me the most about dealing with addiction is that, in many ways, it’s analogous to what’s happened to our whole culture. I’m not all against consuming things but we have to learn what we’re using, when, how much, what’s appropriate, and what’s the end game. We need to be thinking about things in a framework like this for life, not just to deal with addiction.” – Dr. Daniel Hochman
Links Mentioned:
“Addiction is just something we all have the circuitry for– we’re all drawn in to do more of things that we love and escape the stress. If you treat it like that, it’s a very normal thing that’s easy to talk about– it’s fascinating. So long as the conversation is around that, it’s a healthy thing.” – Dr. Daniel Hochman