Alcohol has been around for years, used for social events, as an addition to dinner or dessert, and as a relaxation aid. It can also be used to supplement hardship, pain, frustration, and other difficult mental health issues. Alcoholism is considered a disease and an addiction; like many other addictions or diseases, it can be easier to ignore the issue than to deal with it. Similarly to other addictions, the kids in the house are subject to the negativity from an alcohol addiction; they can be ignored, treated poorly, they can feel ashamed or helpless, and if the parent promises to quit and then does not, they can get frustrated. I am going to test the affects alcoholic parents have on teenagers at home. Alcoholism is a complex disease, as it affects more than just the person living with it. In the article “Coping with an Alcoholic Parent” we explore why people drink too much, how it affects families, and the ramifications it has on the children in the household. The focus of this article was on children in the household, and the ways in which they can deal with having a parent who is considered an alcoholic. The next article, “Alcoholism and the Effect on the Family” deals with what alcoholism does to a person, breaking it down into three sections: Physiological effects such as tremors or blackouts, psychological effects such as the obsessive desire to drink, and the behavioral problems that disrupt home life and work. Once the article discusses the effects of alcoholism, it looks deeper into what the effects on the family are, especially from the child’s perspective. The “High School Dropout Statistics” were updated on the first of 2014. They show when kids dropout of school, what demographic they belong to, the rate of drop... ... middle of paper ... ...ut if they are approached at school with understanding and compassion, they may feel more inclined towards staying in school where it is safe. If that would lower the crime rates, dropout rates, and emotional trauma then I say it is worth it. It is up to educators to be a guide for students, and will depend partially on them if the change is going to happen. Works Cited Coping with an Alcoholic Parent. 2012. http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/families/coping_alcoholic.html Parsons. Tetyana. Alcoholism and Its Effect on the Family. December 2003. http://allpsych.com/journal/alcoholism.html Education Week. High School Dropout Statistics. 10/12/2012. http://www.statisticbrain.com/high-school-dropout-statistics/ T, Buddy. Children of Alcoholics at Risk for Drug Abuse. 2/5/06 http://alcoholism.about.com/od/children/a/blpab060204.htm http://www.nacoa.net/impfacts.htm
I can still remember the day, June 2, 2013, my cousin took his own life due to alcohol. This is not the first time alcoholism has taken a family member from my family. I lost my uncle ten years ago to the same things, but running his truck into a tree. Like Scott Russell Sanders’ my family has suffered from the pain and disease that alcohol causes. Although Sanders’ case was much different than mine, my families is more unknown until all of a sudden one of my family members is gone. In Sanders’ essay, “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of my Father’s Booze,” he discusses how it was growing up around him, his father’s life being taken, and his life now.
Consumption of alcohol affects children in many negative ways. Jeannette Walls and her siblings have faced an abundance of obstacles thrown at them by their father. Despite his major flaws, Jeannette still views him as the person she used to admire. But because of
In the article “Children of Alcoholics” produced by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the author explains the negative effect of parental alcoholism on their children’s emotional wellbeing, when he writes, “Children with alcoholic parents are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, antisocial behavior, relationship difficulties, behavioral problems, and/or alcohol abuse. One recent study finds that children of drug-abusing fathers have the worst mental health issues (Children of Alcoholics 1). Walls reflects upon her childhood experiences in which her father would become drunk and not be able to control his behavior, as she writes, “After working on the bottle for a while, Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way. When he’d had his fill of cussing and hollering and smashing things up, he’d collapse” (Walls 23). The Walls children, who frequently encounter their father’s abusive behavior, are affected mentally in the same way that national studies have shown. Jeanette Walls describes how, after drinking, her father’s behavior becomes cruel and intolerable through his use of profanity, threats, and angry, even violent, actions. In a conventional family, a parent has the responsibility of being a role model to influence their children in a positive way as they develop. Unfortunately, in the Walls family and other families with alcoholic parents, children are often subject to abuse and violence, which places them at risk, not only physically, but mentally. Rex’s irrational behavior when he is drunk is detrimental to the children’s upbringing, causing them to lose trust in their parents, have significantly lower self-esteem and confidence, and feel insecure. Rex’s behavior contributes to Jeanette’s
There is a total of “970000 children(Children, Lambie-Sias)” under the age of 17 in the U.S. that are living with a parent or guardian who abuses alcohol.The guardian or parent put a lot of psychological hurt on these children, but typically it’s due to the fact that the parent has a coexisting psychiatric disorder. You can generally tell if the COAs (Children of Alcoholics) by certain indicators they show. They normally are always late, they don’t really care about their physical appearance, they could be really excited during the day but once it’s time to go home seem down in the dumps because they don’t want to return home to see their parent or guardian abuse alcohol. More psychological problems or indicators you can see are when the child has trouble controlling their mood and behavior, during the day they will show disobedient behavior, random outbreaks of their emotions, on normal day’s basis this child is known as the “class clown”. “Psychosomatic Responses(Children, Lambie-Sias)” this child will show during the school day are due to the emotional hurt they are feeling so they will confirm this by “physical symptomlogy (Children, Lambie-Sias)”, headaches and complaint of stomachs are usually what they will tell a teacher or nurse is wrong with them and these normally have unexplainable causes. The majority of the time these children, convey what
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.
One in five children in America have grown up in a household with at least one or more alcoholic parent (AACAP). Teenagers in this situation tend to experience certain problems others may not. Within the last five years this common problem has increased significantly (Gold 1). I was first inspired to write this research paper after reading the New York Times bestseller, The Other Wes Moore. In the book, an alcoholic parent was present and was an issue. The father wasn’t a part of the other Wes Moore’s life causing him to be absent in raising his son. This led me to wonder how the other Wes Moore was negatively impacted and what he could have done to help himself cope with his situation. Many people believe the parent changing their ways is
Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences dealing with alcoholism will be revealed. Not only are statistics, like the facts mentioned before, important when dealing with an issue such as alcoholism, but personal accounts and information are often more powerful and influential evidence. Non-alcoholics should be allowed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for research purposes.
The strongest and most influential person who modeled alcohol use in my childhood was a male relative. I was not completely aware of many of these impacts until adolescence. As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne. However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism. I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family. This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me. Many of my relatives were alcoholics. There was never a family brunch, dinner, or casual gathering that was not centered around alcohol. The excessive and consistent reliance on alcohol fueled the arguments and shouting matches I witnessed between my male relatives. Their arguments were always laden with racist, sexi...
throughout her childhood with an alcoholic father and a selfish mother who cared more about her art and happiness than that of her children’s. Alcohol misuse can affect all aspects of family functioning: social life, finances, good communication, relationships between family members, parenting capability, employment and health issues , It also has a strong correlation with conflicts, disputes and domestic violence which can leave a damaging effect on children. Alcohol misuse often times change the roles played by family member...
In the United States alone, there are 28 million children of alcoholics - seven million of these children are under the age of eighteen. Every day, these children experience the horrors of living with an alcoholic parent. 40%-50% of children of alcoholics grow up and become alcoholics themselves. Others develop eating disorders or become workaholics. Children of alcoholics receive mixed messages, inconsistency, upredictability, betrayal, and sometimes physical and sexual abuse from their parents. They are made to grow up too fast because they must help keep the family structure together by doing housework and taking care of siblings since the alcoholic is not doing his or her part. Children form roles that they play to help disguise the disease. The roles help distract people from seeing the real problem and serve to protect the family so it can continue to function. There are five roles that the family members will take on-- the enabler, the hero, the scapegoat, the lost child, and the mascot.
Although my aunt is an alcoholic and suffers from alcoholism, my family still loves her and would never exclude her from family events/gatherings. The family wishes that she would cooperate and get help but that has been denied many times. Yet, when she is not intoxicated, my aunt is a warm-hearted woman, who will feed anyone who is hungry, open her home to loved ones who are in need, and will speak with the softest voice ever. My family would like to enjoy this sober person as she is without alcohol, and not the intoxicated person who seems nonchalant. Hopefully, in the future, my aunt will seek deep in her heart to get some help and depart from the use of alcohol, which not only affects her but affects her family.
Earls, F., Reich, W., Jung, K. G., & Cloninger, C. R. (2006). Psychopathology in children of alcoholic and antisocial parents. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12(4), 481 - 487.
As the result of being raised in a home where one or both parents were addicted, children of alcoholics generally have certain common characteristics that continue to affect them as adults. Members of a dysfunctional family tend to build up defenses to deal with the problems of the addicted family member. Common problems include lack of communication, mistrust, and low self-esteem. Adult children of alcoholics often become isolated, are afraid of authority figures, have difficulty distinguishing between normal and abnormal behavior, and judge themselves harshly. This often leads to enduring feelings of guilt and problems with intimate relationships. In many cases, adult children of alcoholics develop an over-developed sense of responsibility, and respond poorly to criticism. They may feel different from other people, fear failure but tend to sabotage success, and fall in love with people they can pity and rescue. Fortunately, there are a number of support groups designed to help adult children of alcoholics identify their problems, and start resolving them.
“When I was 13, my dad started drinking more and more. Every day he would come home from work and have beer, lots of it. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then he started getting more angry and violent. He would shout at my mom and me. It was like my father had gone and been replaced with another guy” says an anonymous kid who lives with an alcoholic parent in “How my dad’s drinking problem almost destroyed my family”. The kid depicts that he is so confused, angry and upset especially when his father got fired for going to work drunk. This is one of many children’s voices who suffers having an alcoholic in their family. Most of them are depressed because alcohol has destroyed their family. This is an addiction that does
This research paper will help enable sociologists to determine what the ongoing effects have on an alcoholic and further provides information on the long-term effects that society has to deal with. The significance of alcoholism and sociology is the ability of sociologists to research and discover how human behaviour is affected on many aspects of its effects on a person. An alcoholic can be described as someone who is addicted to drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. What starts out as social drinking can lead to excessive drinking and the many problems associated with alcohol abuse and i...