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Are You Ready To Date Again After Addiction?

Feb 2 2022
Categories:Love and Relationships

When you're in recovery, it's important to focus on yourself and your own journey. But there will come a time when you may start to think about dating again. So how do you know when you're ready? And how do you go about dating safely and responsibly?

It can be a difficult decision to make as there is no definitive answer. While many experts recommend dating at least one year after rehab, there is really no single answer to the question of when is it okay to date again and love, as everyone’s journey through addiction and recovery is unique.

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However, there are some things you can keep in mind as you explore dating and relationships during your recovery.

1) Your Recovery Is Stable

First, it is important to make sure that you are in a stable place when it comes to your recovery. Recovering from substance abuse is not an easy task. It takes time, commitment, and hard work to maintain healthy sobriety.

If you are still struggling with the early stages of recovery, it can be difficult to get involved in a new relationship that may affect your efforts. You have to make sure that you've got a good foundation laid before you start dating again.

A lot of times, people who get out of rehabs think that they're instantly healed and they can go back to dating again immediately. The problem, however, is that there are instances when pursuing a new relationship becomes a distraction in their recovery process. Remember that your sobriety should always come first.

2) You Have Fixed or Strengthen Your Other Relationships

Date Again After AddictionBefore you pursue a new connection with someone new, it's important that you make an effort to fix or strengthen the relationships you currently have. You should feel like you've made major improvements in these relationships before moving onto new ones.

If there are some people that you've hurt or have hurt you in the past, try to mend those bridges before you start trying to build new ones. Particularly with past romantic partners, you have to reflect on what went wrong and how you can avoid the mistakes from happening again.

If you have some loose threads from existing or previous relationships, it can be difficult to start a meaningful relationship with someone else. There will always be some existing baggage to contend with, so you should make sure you've settled your issues before moving on.

3) You're Emotionally Ready for a Relationship

You have to be honest with yourself whether you are emotionally ready to start dating again. Being with someone new involves an emotional connection, and you must be sure that you're ready for a shared emotional experience.

Dating can make you feel a rollercoaster of emotions - joy, anticipation, anxiety, disappointment, rejection, pleasure, and more. If you're not emotionally ready for these highs and lows, you might be at risk for relapse especially if you encounter negative experiences.

You also have to make sure that your emotions aren't clouded by the need to feel happy or loved. You don't want to use the person you are dating as a substitute to feel the emotional and physical highs that substances can no longer provide you.

4) You Have Got Your Own Life in Order

A lot of times, you may feel pressured about meeting new people. Perhaps you're getting lonely or your friends are pressuring you to date again. But before you get back into the dating pool, it's important to make sure that you have your own life in order and that you can be independent and happy on your own.

If there are some things that need to be fixed about yourself, it's best to take care of those things first before looking for a partner. For example, if you're looking to switch jobs and start a new career, focus on that first. Or if you are planning to improve your fitness, lose weight, move to a new place, or finish school, then you should pursue these things before you start dating.

Having a life in order in recovery will make you feel confident and happy about yourself, which can be an attractive quality to potential partners.

5) You Are Ready to Be Open About Your Addiction Recovery Journey

In any relationship, trust is very important. It will be difficult to build a relationship based on trust if your new partner is unaware about your addiction and recovery. Ideally, you have to be open about your past struggles with addiction and how you manage it nowadays.

Your partner should know that you're still attending meetings, working a program of recovery, or being in therapy. Your partner has to be supportive in your recovery process as they may have to make their own sacrifices, too.

Dating in Addiction Recovery

So, if you're feeling ready to date again after addiction, make sure that you follow these tips. Dating can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it's important to do so in a healthy way. Be honest with yourself and your potential partners about your past struggles.

Have your own life in order before jumping into the dating pool and be open and communicative about your addiction recovery journey with anyone you date. With these guidelines in mind, you're likely to have a successful (and relapse-free) dating experience.

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Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

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    Anaheim Lighthouse Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • anaheimlighthouse.com
    • July 2, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to