The Fix™: A Blog About Addiction Gives Personal Support to Individuals & Loved Ones on the Road to Recovery

The Short Version: Being in a relationship is hard, and it’s even harder when someone is struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol. People with addiction have to learn how to take care of themselves and set boundaries, while significant others have to learn how to provide support without enabling bad behaviors. These issues can drive a wedge between couples if they’re not careful. Fortunately, The Fix offers people of all ages and backgrounds a detailed road map to recovery. The site’s blog posts, online forum, and other informational resources give readers a personal look at how people in recovery can make the right choices and move forward. You can learn how to talk about addiction, where to seek treatment, and what it means to live a sober life by reading The Fix, which frequently features advice articles written by individuals who have faced similar challenges in their lives and overcame them.

Rebecca Rush is a comedian, a writer, and a recovering alcoholic. She learned to become self-reliant after going through a string of bad relationships in her 30s. It has a hard lesson.

“I don’t know whether to wrap you up in a straightjacket and watch you all weekend or leave forever,” a boyfriend once said to her after she had lost her job and then crashed her car in a Tequila-induced stupor. He ended up choosing option B.

The Fix is a useful resource for singles and couples dealing with addiction.

Rebecca said she was tired of the men in her life putting her needs second — so she decided to stop looking for a savior and focus on taking care of herself. As she said, “I have been in a committed relationship with myself and my recovery ever since.”

She writes about her childhood and dating history with emotional honesty on The Fix, and her experiences lend insight into what it’s like inside the heart and mind of someone with a substance use disorder. She said she thinks of her blog posts as love letters to herself. As she reflects upon her past relationships and everything they have taught her, she offers readers a soulful look at how addiction, codependency, and immaturity can drive two people apart and lead to unhappiness.

The Fix, an informational online resource, is full of similarly personal stories penned by freelance writers who have dealt with addiction or mental health issues at some point in their lives. These writers talk about the issues that impact their lives, sometimes on a daily basis, and it’s inspiring to hear them share their experiences and takeaways.

“We do a lot of personal essays that let writers be honest and open about their experiences with addiction,” Rebecca said. “That ends up connecting with people who have been through it too.”

When it comes to dealing with addiction while in a relationship, some people may feel like they don’t know where to turn to for help because friends and family members may not have dealt with these problems before. The team at The Fix has, though. These writers have experience with hitting rock bottom, managing codependent relationships, going to rehab, and living sober, and their insights can inspire readers to overcome similar challenges in their lives.

The Fix’s community forum gives people a free and anonymous place to talk about addiction.

The Fix offers a mix of practical guides, investigative reports, rehab reviews, and personal essays focused on addiction, recovery, and sober living. The site has also built a thriving online community of people in (or working toward) recovery and their loved ones. Offering a safe space for conversations about addiction and mental health, the blog invites its readers to share their stories on the site and raise awareness about how widespread these issues are.

Anyone can go to the site’s Reader Forum to ask questions and join a discussion about recovery. It’s a free resource for individuals facing personal problems including alcohol abuse, drug addiction, and eating disorders. If you’re having trouble and need someone to talk to, the forum is a wonderful place to find solidarity and engage in a fruitful dialogue.

The Fix tackles difficult subjects with raw honesty and unyielding compassion. From how to overcome loneliness to how to maintain a relationship while in recovery, the blog provides informational resources for individuals and loved ones struggling with addiction. Its down-to-earth advice reminds people of what’s important in life and what they can do to recover their health and happiness.

“We just want to keep going, keep growing, and, hopefully, keep helping more people,” Rebecca told us. “We’re just trying to help by sharing our experiences, strength, and hope — that’s all you can really do.”

Adults in the dating world tend to carry some sort of baggage — it just comes with experiencing the world. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Whether you have children from a previous relationship or you’re recovering from alcohol or drug addiction, you have to be honest about what experiences you’re bringing with you when you start a new relationship.

If you want a romantic connection to succeed, you need to be upfront about who you are from the get-go. Rebecca said some recovering alcoholics feel like they want to hide their history and have a clean start, but hiding their problems can sometimes make them grow worse.

However, singles in recovery may not know how to broach such a personal and sensitive subject. Rebecca recommends mentioning it as soon as possible. Bring it up on the first date or, better yet, talk about it in the dating profile. That way, any new love interest knows what they’re getting into and can be supportive on the road to recovery.

“You’ll know that you are ready for a relationship when you finally feel at your core like you don’t need one.” — Rebecca Rush, a writer for The Fix

The Fix offers many specific guidelines for singles in the dating scene, and most of it revolves around being honest about who you are and what you’re dealing with. “It’s non-negotiable,” Rebecca said. “If somebody doesn’t want to deal with it, then the relationship isn’t going to work. Because you have to deal with it.”

Rebecca told us singles shouldn’t enter the dating world at all unless they are clean and in a healthy state of mind. Most treatment centers tell recovering addicts not to date until they’ve been sober for a year. It’s best to take things slowly and not rush into a relationship because having a romantic partner isn’t a quick fix to all your problems.

“First you have to get right with yourself,” she said. “It’s hard because other people can become an addiction, and then you’re dealing with codependency issues.”

Rebecca was in a grocery store in Los Angeles when she met Amy Dresner. The two women struck up a conversation and quickly realized they had a lot in common. They were both recovering alcoholics, professional comics, and aspiring writers. Amy wrote a column for The Fix, and she introduced Rebecca to the blog’s dedicated team of writers.

Rebecca Rush, who lives in Manhattan, writes for The Fix by day and does stand-up comedy by night.

“Writers for The Fix are from all over the country, and many of them have written memoirs about their lives and addiction,” Rebecca said. “It’s exciting to be part of that team.”

She told us one of the main goals of the blog is to remove the stigma from addiction and other mental health issues by talking about them in an open forum.

Since 2011, The Fix has shared the stories of people whose lives have been impacted by addiction in some way. The blog is a comprehensive resource for anyone wondering how to handle a drug addiction, alcoholism, depression, eating disorder, or other mental health issues. A team of talented writers offer advice based on scientific research and personal experience so people can recover from addiction and lead fulfilled lives.

“One common thread that ties us together is we’re very hopeful,” Rebecca said. “We believe there’s a future — no matter what you’re going through.”

It took years of mistakes for Rebecca to learn how to look out for her emotional well-being and stay on the straight and narrow. As a writer and recovering alcoholic, she now hopes to help her readers take a shortcut to recovery. She shares her experiences on The Fix because she wants to keep others from making similar mistakes in their lives.

Her dysfunctional relationships taught her a lot about herself and what she needed to do to be happy. Now she writes personal essays as a way of working out problems and putting a spotlight on positive solutions for herself and anyone struggling with addiction.

“It feels very vulnerable,” she said, “to write these kind of diary pieces and realize that my experience can help people.”

On The Fix, singles and couples can find helpful and heartfelt guidance from writers who, like Rebecca, have gone through addiction, recovery, and relapses themselves. “We had to learn the hard way,” Rebecca said, “and we all just want to help somebody learn it a little less hard.”