Addiction and Its Impact on Family

Addiction and Its Impact on Family

Although not widely regarded as having a significant impact on the family, addiction is a severe problem. Consequently, families are left with the burden of accepting the challenges that come along with addiction as well as coping with them without the certainty of what the future holds. Addiction has been found to disrupt the family system, and some of these disruptions lead to lifelong issues (Lander et al., 2013). Ideally, some individuals who are past the age of eighteen are forced to stay home and help their alcoholic parents, which has adverse impacts on the individual. Exposure to alcohol and other forms of drugs significantly affects the family.

Furthermore, children are the most affected by alcohol and substance abuse, and this may lead to several personality issues, including loneliness, worthlessness, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. As such, they may feel guilty about their parent’s abuse. Additionally, because they may feel embarrassed, they may keep their peers or friends away, and in the long run, this may lead to isolation (Lander et al., 2013). In addition, anxiousness is also a common aspect when it comes to the parent’s abuse, and the behavior tends to the abuser’s on the experiences and inconsistencies that may be present.

In summary, a family is a significant unit. Therefore, according to Ackerman (n.d.), family members go through stages of awareness and acceptance of a member of the family’s substance abuse. Family’s denial is usually the first response. As a result, denial may lead to isolation if the individual does not receive proper family support. Nonetheless, through self-acceptance and family support, an individual can cope better.

References

Ackerman, R. J. (n.d.). Alcoholism and the family. National Association for Children of Alcoholics. http://www.nacoa.org/pdfs/ackerman.pdf

Lander, L., Howsare, J., & Byrne, M. (2013). The impact of substance use disorders on families and children: from theory to practice. Social work in public health, 28(3-4), 194-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2013.759005

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After having reviewed the readings and references, please address these two questions:
• How has addiction affected the family members of the person with an addiction? In what ways have/might any of their behavior(s) or thinking about their addiction change(d)?
• In what ways might the family dynamic affect the addicted individual?