Addiction : The Addict As A Family Member

The client participated in group. The topic for the group was “How to talk to a child about a Parent’s addiction”. The client stated his spoken to his children about his situation; the client stated that he had, he had come to realization that he could have said something sooner. The client appeared to want to work with his children before they have they own issues.

Substance abuse, the abuse of drugs or alcohol, is known to have a lasting impact on members of the abuser’s family (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Ultimately there are two ways in which a family can experience the detrimental effects of substance abuse within the family system itself, and those ways are through either substance abuse on the parent’s behalf or substance abuse by the adolescents or children in the family unit (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Substance abuse can have many negative impacts on a family unit; the negative impacts are known to be emotionally, physically, and mentally damaging (Gruber & Taylor, 2006).

Addicts blame others when things go wrong, they make loved ones feel guilty or ashamed, and maintaining an addiction can take a financial toll on a family. Children, pets, and other family members are often neglected and left to fend for themselves when living with an addict. Addiction can also cause separation in a family. Eventually patience runs out and people end up walking away from the addict when they refuse to get help or take responsibility.

There is no question about how the dynamics of the family structure can change when a family member is a substance abuser. Substance abuse can easily tear apart a family, especially, when some members of the family want the abuser to stop using the substance and to get help, but the user is not ready to change his lifestyle and is resisting pressure from his love ones. There are group therapies and organizations designed to help family members understand addiction, why one might start using drugs and alcohol, and one’s new role in the abuser’s lifestyle, and at the same time help them confront their own issues with the addicted family member. When the abuser is a parent or parents, many people wonder about how are the children coping psychologically,

Great job on the paper! The first connection I made between my population (the mentally disabled) and substance abusers is the role that family can potentially have. In some of the worst cases, a mentally disabled person or a person with a substance disorder may have no one to turn to but family. Both may rely on their family to provide for them as they struggle with their disability or addiction. Furthermore, both those with substance disorders and mental disabilities may have different social patterns than those who have neither. Just like y'all mentioned, a substance abuser may become withdrawn or only be able to hang out with other substance abusers and perhaps a few other close family members and friends,

Research question: How does drug abuse impact family members? Barnard, M (2007). Drug Addiction and Families. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE4MDQ2NV9fQU41?sid=92164d9f-4cd4-4f66-90db-6fca650d41c2@sessionmgr102&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1 This online

It was a calamitous knock, a knock that brought with it the worst of news that commenced a series of devastating events to follow for years to come. This knock arrived at our door at 5:00 a.m. one morning and it was my brother, Andrew. He refused to reveal the contents of his night, but in his insensible stupor he incessantly demanded for our help in finding his lost car, keys, phone, and wallet. After hours of much endeavor from each family member, Andrew’s car was discovered in a ditch with a blown out tire, his keys in another city miles away from the crash scene, and his wallet and phone were never recovered. My brother’s desperate knock and our cautious opening of the door revealed that Andrew’s misfortunes of that night had derived from the abuse of methamphetamine. This event remains in my mind as the initial incident that began our continuous familial struggle over the past five years.

With the awareness of substance abuse as an illness, attention has also been directed to the families and loved ones of those who suffer. Why do families and loved ones stay with someone who is so obviously ill? Why do they tolerate being taken advantage of? One of the first books to address this issue is Codependent No More. According to the author, the issue at hand is codependency, where the individual in the relationship with the addict suffers from an illness as well. This paper is an analysis of the book compared with similar research on the topic.

Whether you have experienced substance abuse personally, within your family, or someone dear to you. You know that it is a disease that takes a toll on the whole family and support system. “Addiction is a family disease; abuse of drugs and alcohol greatly impact every member of an addicts family.” (pg 9.31) This quote taken from the text is a very true statement and it holds truth for every family member and individual who is trying to help his or her loved one find recovery, regardless of economic status, location, or family history. Someone who uses grosses his or her family in the struggle of addiction.

Would it shock you to know that addiction happens in rich, as well as poor families? We tend to associate substance abuse with poverty. After all, conditions leading to alcoholism and/or drug addiction are prevalent among the poor, such as physical abuse, neglect and violence.

In reading chapter one of the textbook “Substance Abuse and Family” I found a couple things that caught my attention and felt were important to know. The first being the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) I first heard about this manual in my Anthropology class two days ago when examining attributes that can lead to disorders such as non-attachments, interpersonal disorganization and mother and child strain. The textbook describes DSM as providing criteria for varies types of substance (mental health) issues, they are clustered by different symptoms that impact individual functioning. Another interesting piece of the chapter was the four species of alcoholism found in the disease model being one of the three primary models of addiction.

Some families will deny the fact that one member is addicted to something or will become engulfed in despair and develop depression. Anyone who tried to address the problem is looked at as a traitor to the family and is disloyal. Abuse can be developed because the weight of addiction is so much to handle, others in the household attempt to deal with the situation by being aggressive and commit assault towards other members. They can become numb and unable to accept support from others. Treatment for families is necessary when addiction takes place (Dayton, 2015). Addiction effects relationships between potential partners as well. Addicts put their addiction ahead of everything else, so when they have a significant other, this relationship is impacted. The significant other will most likely ask “why do you do this if it hurts me so much?” and believe the addict loves their addiction more than them, which is true. Addicts will not be able to hold a relationship due to not being able to deal with both, and as people leave they turn more towards the addiction since it is always there to make them feel better (Garret,

Forgiveness is always a difficult act for families of addicts. Having to excuse the mistake or offense the person that hurt you is not easy at all and letting go of all that they have put you through is tough. But at the end of the day the family we still forgive them because they love them. “I’d like friends and, uh, to have my family forgive me“(Sheff 87). Nic was aware that he hurt his family. Most addicts are aware that they’ve affected the family and they do not intend to but because they are so addicted, they can’t help it. According to Erika Krull’s “Addiction and Family Roles”, it clarifies how “everyone takes on predictable roles when the family isn’t emotionally healthy, and this is usually caused by a drug or alcohol addiction”.

Addiction seems to be a prevalent issue amongst many families. Addiction is characterized as an obsessive condition in which an individual is actively engaged in a satisfying incentive, despite adversative consequences (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2011). As one of the top diseases in the United States, addiction not only effects the acting individual; but the effects of addiction are experienced by the entire family (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013). Addiction generally refers to the excessive use of a substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, nicotine) or an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping) that hinders ordinary life responsibilities (Lewis, 1989). Alongside the acting individual, addiction significantly effects many marriages and families (Rowe, 2012). In many cases, substance abuse is amongst the highest addictive qualities that can cause family dysfunction, child maltreatment, and marital issues. It is imperative to review these positions from different theoretical approaches in order to understand the role addiction plays in the family system and how addiction effects relationships in the household.

When I was younger my father was an alcoholic. He would work and spend most of his money on alcohol. He was a single father which made life at home extremely difficult for us kids. On days where he was close to running out of beer I would wait till he fell asleep, go into his room and take all of his money.