Should Two Addicts Stay Together?


Is it healthy for two recovering addicts like Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller to be in a serious relationship?

Charlie Sheen’s very public Christmas Eve domestic dispute with wife Brooke Mueller in Aspen has fueled speculation about the couple’s three-year relationship, particularly in regards to each person’s respective battle with drugs and alcohol. HollywoodLife.com spoke with one expert who explains the dangers of a romantic relationship involving two recovering addicts.

On Dec. 24, when Brooke, 32, called 911 on Charlie, 44, for assaulting her, both parties had been drinking, (registering a .13 and .04 BAC, respectively), despite each being recovering alcoholics. Even if the notorious party animals weren’t drinking all that much on Christmas Eve, Brooke and Charlie are still on a slippery slope, says addiction and anger management specialist Marty Brenner.

“If they are both addicts, and one starts drinking again, there’s about a 90% chance the other will relapse too,” he tells HollywoodLife.com.

The odds of staying clean are already stacked against an addictive couple, but now that incident has occurred, it will be even more difficult for the couple to stay on the straight and narrow.

“Brooke is feeling remorse for making that phone call. She feels guilty because she didn’t want to put her husband in that situation,” Brenner says, explaining why relapse is now more likely than ever. “Usually relapse happens when an addict is under pressure or depression, she will start to medicate herself. When you start drinking, even at a small amount, you do things you don’t want to do.”

Unlike so many celebrity addict couples before them (the Hasselhoffs and Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil are just a few), in order to make this marriage work, Brooke and Charlie need to get into counseling immediately, says Brenner.

Most importantly, we think these two need to put their 9-month old twins, Bob and Max, first and pull themselves together. Don’t you?