How Alcohol Abuse Can Lead To Severe Marital Problems

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Roughly half of the total married population in the United States drink alcohol. But most of the time, the husband is a heavy drinker, which leads to the worst-case scenario.

Marriage is no stranger to multiple problems, and that includes alcohol abuse. It is one of the most common marriage problems leading to domestic violence or divorce. In the U.S. alone, wives who drink are only half the five percent of couples who drink. While it is not a secret that men drink more often than women, heavy alcohol consumption influences the flow of anyone’s marriage.

The Consequences Of Marital Problems Due To Alcohol

People can still drink alcohol in moderation since it doesn’t have the same lethal consequences as heavy drinking. However, that doesn’t give anyone free reign to abuse their alcohol intake. Alcohol abuse affects marriages across all social classes, and celebrities are not spared from that problem. If you’re getting married or already one, these are the consequences for you to watch out for:

• Low marital satisfaction often leads to heavy drinking, addiction, and alcohol disorders. It is usually caused by the husband being the problem drinker, but this aspect still applies to a severely drinking wife.
• Domestic violence and increased aggression due to alcohol use contribute to physical and psychological damage.
• The most common reasons for divorce include alcohol and substance abuse. It ranks third among women and eighth for men. When couples seek marriage counseling, they often state alcohol abuse as the reason their marriage might fall apart.
• People who have alcohol-dependent spouses are under more negative encounters than couples with at least one partner who suffers from an alcohol disorder.

The Way You Drink Makes All The Difference

Regardless of who drinks the worst, alcohol use disorder still bears heavy consequences in the marriage. However, spouses who bond over drinks may not experience many negative instances. Studies have shown that spouses who have similar alcohol intake together tend to feel the same marital satisfaction as an average non-drinking couple.

Another bizarre dynamic of married people who drink together is when spouses have the same alcohol use disorder. Despite the consequences, they tend to have better interactions, unlike couples with a one-sided alcoholic. It doesn’t matter if the marriage is in shambles due to both spouses’ alcohol addiction because, somehow, due to their shared bond over drinks, they are less likely to divorce. Couples who spend quality time drinking for recreational purposes tend to have a positive dynamic. The relationship benefits always occur for couples who do things together since it draws them closer, producing intimacy.

When Kids Come Into The Picture

Realistically speaking, it is never a good look for a family where both parents are heavy drinkers since that often wrecks the parent-child relationship and affects the child’s behavior growing up. Even though couples who drink together experience fewer relationship problems compared to a one-sided alcoholic partner, it’s a whole other story regarding children. The child is vulnerable to all kinds of abuse, especially if it is sexual. Children with both alcoholic parents suffer the worst outcomes.

Physical aggression is one of the behaviors exhibited by an alcoholic parent, which often causes physical abuse toward children and spouses if only one is addicted to alcohol. However, husband-perpetrated aggression also happens more in families with both alcoholic spouses.

Recent Findings On Alcohol Abuse Impacting Marriage

These are the latest results from the research conducted by the UB Research Institute on Addictions for more than four decades:

• Suppose couples drink together with their spouses instead of doing it alone and apart tend to have a better bond and interaction. An example of this scenario would be men believing that alcohol is practically an extension of social functions. At the same time, women think that alcohol is one way of heightening the intimacy of a relationship.
• Verbal abuse can also be caused by alcohol intoxication, followed by physical attacks against the victim. There are higher chances of verbal aggression if the perpetrator drinks four hours before intoxicating.
• After more or less a decade almost fifty percent of couples in a one-sided alcoholic relationship have divorced after more or less a decade. While thirty percent of couples where both spouses drink to have less likelihood of separating.

If your partner has a drinking problem and you don’t want that to ruin your marriage, you can always call for professional help. Dealing with an alcoholic husband or wife is hard enough and can destroy any bond between family, friends, and spouses. It can get worse when there are children involved. There are different treatments and marriage counseling sessions available for you.