August is recognized as Overdose Awareness Month, culminating in International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31. This is a time to remember those we have lost, to reduce stigma surrounding substance use disorders, and to serve as an important reminder that recovery is possible. At Turning Point, it is also an opportunity to highlight something that isn’t discussed nearly enough: the complicated relationship between substance misuse and domestic violence.

Substance Misuse and Increased Harm

If you haven’t lived in an abusive home, it can be difficult to imagine what that particular kind of uncertainty feels like.

You learn to listen before you look. The sound of tires in the driveway, a can being dropped into a recycling bin, the melodic clink of glass bottles against each other – everyday sounds now amplified to heart-stopping volumes by the weight of what their presence likely indicates. You hold your breath for just a moment, trying to answer the question that has become woven into the fabric of your daily life: Which version of them is coming home today?

Will they be boisterous, telling loud jokes and glazed eyes? Or angry, snapping at the smallest things and slamming doors? Will the evening pass peacefully, or will everyone need to walk on eggshells, carefully choosing every word in hopes of avoiding an explosion?

When substance misuse enters an already abusive relationship, the feelings of uncertainty and anticipation often grow. It’s important to draw the distinction here: alcohol or drugs do not cause domestic violence. Abusive behavior is a choice rooted in power and control, but substance misuse can be like throwing gasoline on a fire that is already burning—making abusive behavior more volatile, more unpredictable, and often far more dangerous.

For survivors, that unpredictability becomes an all-consuming, exhausting reality. Children become experts at reading moods. Partners begin planning every aspect of their lives around perceived sobriety. Families tiptoe around someone else’s behavior, hoping today won’t be the day things get worse.

The truth is that domestic violence and substance misuse are deeply connected, but not always in the ways people assume. Again, correlation does not equal causation. 

Not an Isolated Issue

Many survivors use alcohol or other substances as a way to survive overwhelming trauma. Living in fear becomes surviving in a state of crisis, and navigating this day after day changes the brain and the body. Anxiety, depression, nightmares, chronic stress, and post-traumatic stress are common responses to abuse. For some, substances become an attempt to quiet the fear, numb emotional pain, or simply make it through another day. Some of this may even come from a doctor who prescribes a medication meant to help with powerful anxiety, but in the end these drugs can wind up contributing to harm because they are habit forming and difficult to stop taking. What may begin as a way to cope can gradually become dependence, increasing the risk of substance use disorder and overdose.

Abusive partners may also use substances as another tool of control. They may pressure someone to use, sabotage recovery efforts, withhold medication, or use a survivor’s addiction to threaten them, discredit them, or keep them trapped in the relationship. Shame and fear often prevent survivors from reaching out for help, especially if they worry they won’t be believed or that they will be judged for their substance use.

Every Story Matters

International Overdose Awareness Day reminds us that every overdose represents a person – a life, a soul with hopes, relationships, and a story that deserves compassion rather than judgment. The same is true for survivors of domestic violence. Behind every statistic is someone doing the best they can to survive circumstances no one should have to endure.

Healing is almost never as simple as leaving an abusive relationship. Many survivors are rebuilding not only their safety, but also their physical health, mental health, financial stability, and sense of self. Recovery from trauma and recovery from substance misuse often go hand in hand, and neither journey should be one traveled in solitude.

You’re Not Alone

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, Turning Point Domestic Violence Services is here to help. Our advocates provide confidential, trauma-informed support, safety planning, legal advocacy, emergency shelter, counseling, and connections to community resources. Help is always available through our 24/7 helpline (815) 338-8081. You do not have to face abuse alone.

If substance use has become part of your story, help is available for that, too. In McHenry County, Thresholds provides behavioral health and substance use treatment services, while Live4Lali offers harm reduction, recovery support, education, and overdose prevention resources. You can reach Thresholds at (773) 572-5500 or [email protected]. Contact Live4Lali at 844-584-5254 x 816 or [email protected]. Reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness. It is an act of courage.

This August, as we honor International Overdose Awareness Day, let’s remember that healing begins with compassion. Whether someone is living with domestic violence, substance use, or both, they deserve to be met with understanding instead of blame, dignity rather than stigma, and hope instead of judgment.

No one should have to fear which version of someone they love is coming home, and no one should have to carry the weight of surviving alone. We’re in this together, so please reach out if you need a hand to hold.

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Credits
Liz Bushey is a Domestic Violence Advocate at Turning Point Domestic Violence Services. Liz has a BA in Sociology with a special focus on Family Health Studies from UW-Whitewater as well as a Master’s Degree in Education with a child development focus from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. Liz has a background in education, and works with children and adults in an individual setting to provide support, advocacy, and education meant to empower survivors in their journey.

Editor
Tiffany Hutson, Outreach & Prevention Coordinator