Parents Being Drug Addicted : A Great Influence On Their Behavior

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.

Addiction is a theme that has been present throughout my life through members of my family and myself. My father was addicted to gambling and alcohol until finally, his drinking ended his life. My brother struggles with alcohol and keeping ahead of his problematic drinking. I have several cousins that float between alcohol and drugs to fulfill the need for an outside substance. For many years, I pondered how I had escaped the addiction curse in my family only to realize that my addiction is food. I overeat and self-sooth through food even though I have health concerns and know a better way. I spent most of my young adulthood angry at my father because he could not or would not change for his family. I am understanding more through education

Growing up in the household under substances influence can cause severe damage to the child. Parental substance abuse has a significant impact on family function, and it may also contribute to child maltreatment. It heightens the risks to both of the physical and emotional safety of the children, and it generates children’s problematic outcomes. Children who grow up in such families may also experience mental health issues, social isolation, financial difficulties, and exposure to stressful life events and so on.

Imagine if the two people you admire the most, the two people who set the example of how life should be, just stopped taking care of you and neglected your individual needs. What could be the reason your parents have chosen to withdraw from your life? If you could examine this picture more closely, you would see that these "types" of parents are the ones who are addicted to drugs and stray away from the needs of their own children. These parents do not realize the neglect they are showing for their children; they are not in the right state of mind to even consider what the child needs. Neglect is not the only risk involved by parents using drugs; this behavior could also result in their own

The majority of children living in a dysfunctional family with a drug addicted parent will not develop a secure attachment with another individual, where the relationship revolves around intimacy and mutual understanding. Parents who are codependent on each other have learned to regard the dysfunction as normal, and their children could be susceptible to numerous scenarios. They could become the target of their parent’s abuse, either sexual or physical. The children of codependent parents could easily gain access to drugs or alcohol since no one is paying attention to the child. The codependent parents are preoccupied with the alcoholic or drug addicted parent, and they might never bother to realize their child is in grave danger. The codependent parent’s children might never recover fully from the trauma, abuse, or neglect inflicted on them. In addition, the children learn to become adults who repeat the vicious cycle of domestic violence or abuse themselves. Children of codependent parent might grow resilient despite

Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4

Nothing makes a child grow up faster than having a parent who is addicted to drugs. A child of an addicted parent has no choice but to act as an adult. These children are often left alone and when they aren’t alone, their addicted parent is usually passed out in a drug induced stupor; leaving the child to fend for themselves and/or their siblings. Does having a drug addicted parent have an effect on a child’s emotional development? If so, does this form of abuse that is recognized in the category of neglect have a long lasting effect on the child into adulthood?

At times, the community is unsafe and damaging to the child’s development with current research, they are finding that environmental factors with a high crime rate, poverty, acts of violence and high drug distribution are top contributors that can lead to abuse. This can result in depression, substance abuse and social isolation from the parent and are seen more likely to experience abuse or maltreatment. Although abuse in itself is contributing factor, the likely hood increases with age. During the interview Kaleb discussed how substance abuse in itself can be a leading factor on its own. From his statistics, from the Child Welfare League of America about 40 to 80 percent of families affected by substance abuse. Which as a result of issues of substance abuse the child is more at risk of sexual abuse from the caregivers. Substance abuse often creates a domino effect for the child later in life, such as young pregnancy, problems in school, incarcerated in as a juvenile and the inability to cope with the trauma they experienced. He also stated that substance abusers are the most difficult to treat since many adults do not want to seek proper treatment and more likely to have their child permanently removed to long care foster

The studyAttachment theory suggests that from birth, an infant has an understanding of the world and what to expect from their relationships with others based on the response of their caregivers to their needs (Solis, Shadur, Burns, Hussong, 2012). Attachment styles reflect the nature of the parent-child relationship and are considered to be secure or insecure. Infants who are exposed to substances prior to birth or whose parents abuse substances after birth tend to develop insecure attachment styles (Solis, Shadur, Burns, Hussong, 2012). Studies show that substance abusing mothers typically show less warmth, responsiveness, and physical and verbal engagement as well as harsher and more over-involved interaction styles with their children than

As soon as birth, children are exposed to new things; new life experiences that will develop the path of which direction their life will take. Adolescence is the most important time in a child’s life because it is where they learn appropriate behavior from their family and the outside world. Some children are able to use these experiences to differentiate at an early age what is right and what is wrong and hopefully carry this into adulthood. What happens when children are exposed to the wrong experiences at an early age? What happens if children assume that what they are seeing is okay because one of their parents are

The cost of alcohol and substance abuse in the United States reaches heights of four hundred eighty four billion dollars per year (“Magnitude”). That’s about seven hundred eighty times the amount it cost to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2000 (Chesson). The sole purpose of this is not to persuade you one way or the other on this topic. Nor is the purpose to apologize for this social issue. The purpose of this writing is to employ data showing the societal effects parental addictions have on children, to show how this data has remained relevant in society, and to show how it is affecting our future members of society.

Addicted parents spend a significant amount of time searching for drugs or alcohol and must spend time to obtain money to pay for their “fixes” whether by illegal or legal means. They have to have time to recover from hangovers or withdrawal symptoms. This constant cycle of obtaining, using and coming down from drugs leaves little time left over for their children. Social systems are overwhelmed by the number of children which need care from someone other than their addicted parents. Approximately, eighty percent of the children who enter foster care come from homes of addicted parents (Taylor 2011). Their stay in foster care is lengthened by the need for their parents to meet judicial rehabilitation requirements before being returned to their homes. In addition, these children having come from non-supportive and abusive environments require foster parents who are able to cope with issues of behavioral

Do any parents want their kids on drugs without them knowing that they're on them? The answer is a simple no! If you were a parent and your son had just died, and they had investigated it and realized it was from drugs, how would you feel? If I was a parent right now I would feel devastated. This shows you how poignant people get when they find out what drugs and other places have done to their children, friends and parents. You might be wondering how do we change this? We need to be able to track their whereabouts all of the time. There is an invention that allows parents to track their kids wherever they go whenever they go and can give them a phone call whenever they go to certain places or drive above the speed limit.

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

Youth from single parent homes showed an increase in drug use. Children from single parent homes are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, use drugs, and drink alcoholic beverages. In a study done by Hollist and Mcbroom (2006) 49.2% of children being raised in single