Effects of Dysfunctional Families on Children

Does alcoholism really affect a family’s household? In the book, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the father named Rex Walls, is an alcoholic. While i was reading the book, i got interested in the fact that he’s an alcoholic, because not many people know how much, or if alcoholism affects the families household; but the 3 most common factors of alcoholism, are stress, financial burden, and emotional hostage.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seventy six million Americans have been exposed to alcoholism in the family. That means one out of four families is affected by an alcoholic, making alcoholism responsible for more family problems than any other single cause (Parsons). Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the individual, but also everyone around the alcoholic. Alcoholics can make irrational decisions that are harmful not only to themselves but also to the people around them. These irrational decisions can cause financial instability for the household which, in turn, contributes to neglect.

Many people across the world suffer from alcoholism, a family disease. It is called a family disease because the addiction harms the alcoholic, and everyone who has to live with them. Children consistently suffer when they share a house with an alcoholic. Unfortunately, alcoholism is common and many children find themselves in this situation. The emotional and psychological scars that children can develop in alcoholic homes can be so deep that they can last well into adulthood. Youth who grew up in an alcoholic home can develop similar personality traits and characteristics. Approximately 26.8 million children are exposed to alcoholism in the family and 6.6 million children 18 and younger live in households with at least one alcoholic

may become unable or unwilling to adequately care for their children . Children often times experience a loss of parental availability and as a result, feel lonely and Isolated. More often

Children of Alcoholics (COAs) refer to children living in families where a parent abuse alcohol, dependence, and addiction is present. COAs have different life experience than children in non alcoholic families. Which contribute to the fact that living with an alcoholic can cause stress for members in the family Statistics show that eighteen percent

One of the earliest adoption studies was conducted by Goodwin et al., (1973). Results of the study showed that men whose parents were alcoholics had an increased likelihood of alcoholism, even when adopted and raised by non-alcoholic parents from birth. The results provided strong support for a genetic component to alcohol dependence, as treatment for alcohol problems (9% versus 1%) and meeting criteria for alcoholism (18% versus 5%) were all significantly higher in the adopted-away children of parents with alcohol problems/ dependence (Goodwin et al., 1973).

Another considerable factor of this problem is the influence these substances have on children. Alcoholism in the home is an extremely hard issue to cope with as a child. Domestic violence, which is often worsened by alcohol abuse, causes a lot of mental issues that affect children permanently. Many kids do not have a stable home and are forced to see their parents and loved ones struggle with drinking (Hopkins 7). Suffering through the effects of drugs and alcohol also make education a challenge. Children often times stay home from school or are inattentive during class due to lack of sleep from late-night parties or rowdiness at home.This makes it almost impossible to succeed later in life and lets the problem continue onto the next generation.

Children with alcoholic parents suffer all kinds of abuse and it is often life threatening (20). Addiction is not something that begins and ends with one person, the impact addiction has is tremendous and devastating. "Addiction sends shock waves through an entire family unit" (Straussner 1). Over 27 million children live with an alcoholic parent. It is nearly impossible to find children from alcoholic homes who are completely unscathed (The Visitation Handbook for the Custodial Parent 167). Children who grow up with alcoholic parents are forced to mature and grow up much sooner than they ought. Over 22 million adults have come out and said they have lived with an alcohol parent when they were a child (Seixas and Youcha xi). Alcohol continues to be predominant in The United States, because it is a drug that works for the majority of people. Alcohol allows a person to temporarily escape from the problems they are suffering. Most people reap the consequences of previous actions daily and therefore turn to alcohol which allows them to temporarily escape reality. Alcohol may allow people to escape their reality for a time being, but it also creates a horrific reality for 27 million

Studies show that they are four times more likely to drink alcohol in excess than non-COAs (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). They may pick up their own addiction, because they naturally look up to their parents and may follow in their footsteps. Parents cannot be good role models if they tell their children how to act, but do not follow the actions that they tell their children to follow. Asking a child not to drink alcohol, while being an alcoholic, will not make them stay sober (Williams). When these children grow up to become alcoholics themselves, they are at a greater risk than the average person of cirrhosis, various cancers, and problems with high blood pressure

Guilt: Children may feel they are responsible for the drinking, 2. Anxiety: Children may worry constantly about the home situation, 3. Embarrassment: Children may be ashamed of their home lives and avoid having friends to visit, 4. Unable to have close friendships: Children who have been disappointed, 5. Confusion: An alcoholic parent will switch from a loving to an angry stance quickly, confusing the child. The home schedule is also chaotic with no consistent bedtimes or mealtimes, 6. Anger: Children may be angry at the parent who is drinking and angry at the nonalcoholic parent for not supporting or protecting them, 7. Depression: Children of substance-abusing parents are lonely and feel helpless to change the situation”. These are the problems that children of alcoholic is going to experience of the course of their

In reading chapters four and five of the textbook “Substance Abuse and the Family” I found a couple of things that caught my interest. In chapter four, the middle phrase of an alcoholic family is discussed on page 58, regulatory behaviors of the family enabling whatever use of alcohol is occurring hiding and maintaining for others not to see the alcoholism. The children are usually pressured not to talk about the situation at school, work, etc. I have seen parents threaten their children if they were to tell, saying things like “ if you tell they will take us away from you forever and it will be your fault” or “ if you tell punishment will be sure to follow”. Therefore, the family must endure the negative impacts of an alcoholic parent falling

When offspring live in an emotional and unstable household, they will have many factors that contribute to their wellbeing. By living with an alcoholic parent it will leave pressure and stress on the child. The negative factors and risks that affect how children of alcoholics will become going into adulthood are stated by Sihyun Park and Karen Schepp. The influences that affect the offspring is their self-esteem, they will have a poor view of themselves as they are living with a

“Markus Heilig, director at U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said, ‘Among alcoholic patients, rates for physical abuse were reported at 24 percent and 33 percent for men and women’” (Everyday Health). Parents are the role models that are supposed to guide young children to a successful future. Often children are not raised properly and are abused. Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., conducted a study on alcoholic fathers and found, “The alcohol-abusing fathers were less sensitive in their parenting” (Mental Health). The alcohol tends to lessen the father’s sympathy, so he becomes more aggressive than normal. Physical abuse caused by the father leads to bruises, cuts, broken bones, or emotional scars. To relieve themselves of the pain, the abused children will experiment with alcohol. The escape route the abused children take is alcohol because it takes children to a place where they can be cheerful and away from the abuse. It is a fact that, “The experience of being abused as a child may increase a person’s risk for alcohol-related problems as an adult” (Alcohol Abuse as

A study by Wolin and associates determined that children who originated from alcoholic families were not able to function in terms of behavior and emotion as successfully as those who originated from non alcoholic families. In the study, children of alcoholics scored notably lower when researchers looked at their behavioral and emotional

When a family decides to have a child, everything changes. That child becomes a number one priority. In order for a child to lead a healthy, functional life, a family needs to be strong and functional. When a family becomes dysfunctional, the most effected is the children. The children forget their children and act out which makes them difficult to live with. If a dysfunctional family, let alone the children, knew that therapy and help was available to them, more families would become healthy. In this paper, I will prove that children in dysfunctional families can self-diagnose and be encouraged to seek help and treatment so that their future can be affected by their own mistakes and not the mistakes of their families.