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Role of family in preventing drug addiction
Role of family in preventing drug addiction
Research papers on the effect alcohol and substance abuse has on family members
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Impact of Substance Abuse on Families Since family structures are taking on various forms, families have become more complex and evolving from the traditional nuclear family to single parent families, stepfamilies, foster families, and multigenerational families. When a family member abuses substances, the effects on the family may differ depending on the structure. Extended family members may experience feelings of abandonment, anxiety, fear, anger, concern, embarrassment, or guilt; they may wish to ignore or cut ties with the person abusing substances. Effects on families may continue for generations. Neighbors, friends, and coworkers also experience the effects of substance abuse since the person who abuses substances often is unreliable. …show more content…
The diagnosis of this type of substance use disorder often is difficult because the symptoms of substance abuse can be comparable to the symptoms of other medical and behavioral problems that are found in older adults, such as dementia, diabetes, and depression. Many healthcare providers underestimate the extent of substance abuse problems among older generation, therefore, do not screen older adults. Seniors often live with or are supported by their adult children or other family members because of financial necessity and with their substance abuse it is placing additional financial hardship on supporting families, as well as the psychological damage. If the older adult’s spouse is present, they are likely to be an older adult as well, and may be perplexed by their partners new and disruptive behaviors and may not be able to understand the addiction. Therefore, their spouse may not be in a position to help assist in recovery. Their children may take on a parental, caretaking role. This role reversal can be stressful, painful, and embarrassing. In some cases, grown children may stop providing financial support, physical abuse, and assert emotional control because it is the only influence they have over the parent. Children may cut ties with the parent due to their substance abuse. Cutting ties have only increased the parent’s isolation and may worsen the predicament. …show more content…
Most treatment programs will work with the family once a client has achieved some level of abstinence. When the client enters treatment, some treatment providers usually refer family members, including children, to a separate treatment program or to self help groups. These educational support groups can provide an age appropriate understanding about addiction as well as opportunities for members to discuss their experiences and learn an assortment of coping skills, few treatment programs provide such groups. School-age children can also be referred to student assistance programs at their schools.
One in five adults can identify with growing up with an alcoholic relative and Twenty-eight million Americans have one parent abusing or dependent on alcoholic (Walker, & Lee, 1998). There are devastating and ubiquitous effects of alcoholism, which vary from psychological, social, or biological problems for families. Counselor’s treating this problem all agree that the relationships within a family, especially between a parent and a child is one of the most influential within a system, but what are the effects on the family when a parent is an alcoholic? Contemporary research has found there is a higher prevalence of problems in the family when alcohol is the organizing principle. In addition, there is copious research on the roles of individuals within the family becoming defined into specific categories, and evidently, the roles may become reversed between the parent and the child. This topic of functional roles in alcoholic families will be analyzed and investigated further. Family therapy has had substantial results in the treatment of an alcoholic parent. These results will be discussed more along, with the literature examining the existing research related, to specific interventions and treatments in family therapy with an alcoholic parent. Before research on the treatment is illuminated on distinctive therapies, it is crucial for counselors facilitating family therapy to comprehend the literature on the presenting problems commonly, associated with alcoholic parents and the effects this population has on their families. Furthermore, the adverse outcomes an alcoholic parent has on their children and spouses has been researched and reviewed.
Parental attachment, defined as a persevering emotional bond and involved interaction between parent and child, has not been critically studied with respect to the development of substance use disorders (SUDs) (Zhai, Kirisci, Tarter, & Ridenour, 2014). One probable reason for this is the consideration that attachment is generally established by two years of age and the manifestation of SUDs often appears nearly two decades later (Zhai et al., 2014). Therefore, long-term documentation is necessary to track the influence of parent-child bonding on SUDs and SUD etiology (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013). Additionally, there are several factors occurring during the developmental period, which have an impact on the quality of the parent-child relationship, including, fluctuating life circumstances in the parent (e.g. divorce, job loss, medical illness, psychiatric disorder) and the child (e.g. school, friendships) (Zhai et al., 2014; Lander et al. 2013). According to Thorberg et al. (2011), up to fifty percent of those with Alcohol use disorders (AUD) also have alexithymia, a personality construct hypothesized to be related to attachment difficulties. Research on alexithymia notes significant positive associations between alexithymia, difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties describing feelings (DDF) and alcohol us issues (Thorberg et al., 2011). Individuals with alcohol-dependence and alexithymia report increased incidence of suicidal ideation, increased periods of alcohol abuse, and more complications with alcohol when compared to those with alcohol-dependence alone (Thorberg et al., 2011). According to Fowler, Groat, and Ulanday (2013), current findings suggest that anxious preoccupi...
The crippling effects of alcoholism and drug dependency are not confined to the addict alone. The family suffers, physically and emotionally, and it is the children who are the most disastrous victims. Frequently neglected and abused, they lack the maturity to combat the terrifying destructiveness of the addict’s behavior. As adults these individuals may become compulsively attracted to the same lifestyle as their parents, excessive alcohol and drug abuse, destructive relationships, antisocial behavior, and find themselves in an infinite loop of feelings of emptiness, futility, and despair. Behind the appearance of calm and success, Adult Children of Alcoholics often bear a sad, melancholy and haunted look that betrays their quietest confidence. In the chilling silence of the darkest nights of their souls, they yearn for intimacy: their greatest longing, and deepest fear. Their creeping terror lives as the child of years of emotional, and sometimes physical, family violence.
Family counseling as a treatment for substance abuse was first introduced to community mental health agencies in the 1970s. Family therapy became viewed as a feasible treatment alternative for many at-risk populations. Addiction is a serious problem not only, in America, but all across the world. Addiction is a family disease that stresses the family, impacts the stability of the home, the family’s unity, mental and physical health, finances, and overall family dynamics (Family Disease, 2016). Substance abuse can range from alcohol, pills, cocaine, heroin, etc. Because substance abuse comes in all different ways, substance abuse counseling options need to be varied based on the addiction. Families can detect substance abuse when there
"Children Living with Substance-Dependent or Substance-Abusing Parents." Samhsa. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Although it is termed “family therapy”, the therapy can include anyone ranging from immediate family members, to coworkers and close friends. Using this form of therapy to treat heroin addiction can have positive effects, as well as negative. Some positive effects include the person suffering with addiction being able to hear and see the effect that their addiction is having on those they love and that love them, seeing that everyone is gathering to support their treatment and recovery, as well as rooting for them to make a full recovery, and they also get to see that when they do recover, their loved ones will be there to help them stay clean and transition back into a non-addict lifestyle. The therapists may also train the family members on how to handle relapses should they occur and how to recognize the signs of their loved one possibly
People with unsupportive family and friends are less successful when it comes to smoking cessation, taking medications, maintaining health conditions and losing weight (Parks 46). Death from drug and alcohol abuse is more common among people with disordered personal relationships and disordered relationship are both the product and the cause of drug and alcohol abuse. (Parks 47). There was a patient in the clinic that talked to me about their struggles with sobriety. Due to their addiction, they had lost all of their family and friends. When things were tough, they did not have anyone to turn to for support and was constantly falling back into old habits. They wanted to get sober, but did not know how to do it. We were able to get the patient into a rehab program that was able to provide them with support to overcome their addiction. They would not have been able to do it without the interpersonal relationship that was offered to them by the rehab
When examining the issue of successful drug treatment, it is important to consider all aspects affected by drug and alcohol addiction. Upon researching the multitude of issues, it has become very clear that a great deal of efforts are currently being researched to ensure prevention and treatment for alcohol addiction and drug abuse that impacts, not only the abuser, but their families, to include the community as a whole (“National Institute of Drug Abuse.”). The success clearly depends upon individual’s compliance and the community’s willingness to provide adequate and appropriate treatment.
™ is a 16 week program dedicated to helping families where one or both parents are chemically dependent to break the cycle of addiction. The mission of this program is to help both parents and their families learn to lead healthy, responsible, and addiction free lives. It works to help with the recovery of parents with chemical dependency and also helps ensure that their children do not become chemically dependent when they get older. Children in families affected by chemical dependency tend to be at a higher risk of addiction themselves because they learn unhealthy living skills. This program not only teaches the facts about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and chemical dependency, but also works to teach healthy living skills such as healthy boundaries, goal setting, and nutrition. Family reunification and strengthening is also a very important aspect of this program. It works to create positive relationships between parents with chemically dependency and their children. To help foster this relationship, this program explains to all members of the family that chemical dependency is a disease. It teaches children that they did not cause the disease nor can they control the disease.
Eventually, family members learn to confront the drug dependent person and provide honest information regarding their behaviors in a factual manner (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). It is also important that the family learns about the progression of the disease (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016).
While there are individuals who drink and use drugs who do not become addicted, millions of people will develop a substance abuse problem. When family and friends watch a loved one become addicted, they may not know how to help. If the addiction seems to be spiraling out of control, they may stage an intervention or try to nudge their loved one into going to drug rehab.
Research has proposed substance abuse as a genetic predisposition in families (Wetchler & Hecker, 2015). If a parent is abusing substances, than the children may be more likely to start using and abusing substances in the future. Treatment for substance abuse has been seen very effective when using family and couples counseling (Wetchler & Hecker, 2015). One of the main issues when family members seek treatment is the possibility of relapse (Wetchler & Hecker, 2015). From personal experience when someone you care about relapses, it can affect the relationship
Teenage drug abuse is usually the outcome of children becoming adolescents, ages 13 to 19. Wanting to fit in and to be accepted amongst their peers is the main cause in the rising rates of teenage drug abuse and social influence. Between ages thirteen to nineteen children are more likely to become susceptible in making bad decisions because their bodies are going through so many different changes that they may not know how to deal with. The movie Thirteen, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, displays an excellent portrayal of the psychological construct of social influence and how children act when going through the adolescent stage by depicting how children cope with fitting into their new found world of sex, drugs, and crime.
The progression of substance abuse and addiction play a vital role in family dynamics as it sends an indirect message to other family members that certain behaviors is acceptable and even encouraged. (Lessenger & Roper, 2007) According to the stress coping model, children residing in these households have higher levels of stress or often feel socially isolated. Important social cues go untaught and develop into unhealthy coping mechanisms that mirror their parents in the form of substance abuse. (Lessenger & Roper, 2007) A lifetime of self-destructive behaviors and life-altering consequences follow as dependency creeps into every facet of the user’s day to day routine. This paper focuses primarily on women and their differences in receiving support for their addictions.
Piko and Balázs (2012) state that during adolescence, emotional closeness to parents may diminish and conflicts with parents tend to increase. If there is a lack of emotional warmth and less open communication it may lead to the development of problem behaviors in adolescents. When looking at various parental protective factors, parental control and monitoring of behaviors have been found to be the strongest to help prevent adolescent substance use and abuse. Moderate and adequate control, not manipulative psychological control, can play an important role in children’s self-control, which is in turn related to their adjustment and behavior. According to the classification made by Maccoby and Martin (1983) the authoritative parenting style is classified by high responsiveness and being highly demanding.