"My god…how did I miss it?”: Women's experiences of their spouses’ alcohol‐related relapses

Abstract

What is known on the subject:• Alcohol addiction is manifested by periods of abstinence and relapse in which the individual returns to previous problematic alcohol use. This may lead to unstable and stressful routines for the family and for women who live with a spouse diagnosed with an AUD.• AUD may mentally and physically affect women living with a spouse diagnosed with AUD. However, most studies have focused on the influence of AUD in general, and the way they cope with it; few have dealt with the experience of relapse as a distinctive stage. What the paper adds to existing knowledge:• Women's experiences of their spouses' relapses are embedded within their broader life experience in the shadow of alcohol addiction.• The pattern of transitions from closeness to distance in the ways women think, feel and actively respond to their spouses' relapses shows similarities with the ways in which individuals cope with repeated trauma. This helps relate these women's experiences of their spouses' repeated relapses to the potential complex trauma these women experience and leads to a better understanding of the internal emotional dynamics of these women's behavioural patterns. What are the implications for practice:• These women need a therapeutic solution that can help them cope with longstanding emotional burdens.• Therapists should be sensitive to the complexity of their experience. When relevant, therapy should be based on therapeutic strategies from trauma practice, along with Alcohol Behavioural Couples Therapy that can reinforce the couple's mutual efforts to achieve sobriety or reduce AUD severity

Social messages toward women living with spouses who have alcohol use disorder

“…The current study represents a secondary data analysis (Ruggiano & Perry, 2019) of a qualitative study in which women's experiences of their spouses' alcohol‐related relapses were explored (Gavriel‐Fried et al, 2021). In the current study we explored new research questions, using conventional content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005).…”