Rainbow Recovery Family & Friends Support Service

You might find yourself here and wonder why you’d need the support, because it’s your loved one with the addiction. I know that once upon a time, that was my thought. Until I began to realise how much my life had changed because of that addiction.

Life had become about getting my loved one support. It felt like a fight that I wanted to win but my loved one didn’t seem to want to fight at all. It was frustrating because even with an understanding of addiction, you’re watching someone destroy their life but they don’t seem to mind.

If their number appearing on your phone makes your heart sink, if it feels like you’re walking on egg shells because you don’t want to trigger their behaviour, if it feels like an argument is started over things that don’t matter, if you feel like you’re being manipulated into lending money, if you try to talk to them but you get blamed, if you find yourself lying to friends, family and work, if you’re feeling resentful, if you feel a sense of loss because you miss who they were before this….If you feel any of that, then you need support. Your loved one might not be ready for it, but your recovery can start whenever you start to feel that you can’t keep doing this. 

They’re our loved one for a reason, and we understand that. Addiction is an illness that is awful for our loved ones to experience and we hope for recovery for them. The reality is that addiction can destroy families – you can’t make your loved one get help, but YOU can get support whenever you need it.