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The effects of substance abuse on family
The effects of substance abuse on family
Childhood abuse effects adulthood
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In the United States, twenty million children are experiencing physical, verbal and emotional abuse from parents who are addicted to alcohol. Growing up in an alcoholic house can leave emotional scars that may last a lifetime. This is tragic because we consider that childhood is the foundation on which our entire lives are fabricated. When a child’s efforts to bond with an addicted parent are handicapped, the result is confusion and intense anxiety. In order to survive in a home deficient, of healthy parental love, limits, and consistency, they must develop “survival skills” or defense mechanisms very early in life. 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. Normally, children learn about intimate relationships through both loving interactions with parents, and effective parental modeling. In alcoholic homes, all relating filters through “the bottle,” with the alcoholic addicted to the alcohol and the spouse and children addicted to the alcoholic. For Adult Children of Alcoholics, surviving their families becomes the point of existence. The fortunate may be able to draw support from a supportive adult, and may emerge with fewer difficulties than their brothers and sisters. The majority, however, have to “make do.” Some spend lonely hours in their rooms wishing only to vanish behind the woodwork. Others attempt to rescue the foundering vi... ... middle of paper ... ...e interaction at therapy, God will heal us and restore us beyond our wildest imagination. 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.
Aristotle once said, “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” A tragic hero is defined as a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. In the play Antigone, King Creon was perceived as a powerful, respectable, and confident king; inadvertently his confidence and arrogance had led him to the termination of his reign. Creon was confronted with a difficult situation in which he must chose to abide the law or support his niece, Antigone. While being entangled with his pride, he had not given Antigone a chance to persuade him. He had done what he deemed appropriate as king by abolishing his own niece, unaware of the consequences that the future held for him. The interactions between Antigone and Creon in this play had exploited Creon’s flaws and had influenced his decisions which eventually
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.
Reading this I remembered, that I heard in AA meetings people referred to alcohol as their best friend, who is reliable and present. In case of Caroline’s mother death, she turned to her drink for the support and comfort, in the manner of a child who is afraid to be without a favorite blanket or a teddy bear. “Protect me. Shield me from being alone in my own head”, those thoughts were racing in her mind as she increased her daily alcohol intake after her parent’s death. Knapp got sober two years after, and it was sad for me (and I am sure for Caroline, too) to realize that her parents never have seen her daughter free from the addiction, never will have quality time with them and a brand new relationship that they could have been built if Caroline would not have been
Antidepressants are usually a type of drug called SSRIs. SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The most popular antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro and Luvox are all SSRIs (Antidepressant Medications for Children and Adolescents). Many newer antidepressants are SSRIs due to less side effects and more safe for adults compared to other older generations of antidepressants. Children and teens on the other hand are not. In fact, the FDA put a black box warning on SSRIs which “is the most serious type of warning in prescription drug labeling” ( Antidepressant Medications for Children and Adolescents). There’s actually only one SSRI that can be prescribed for depressed children (who must be eight and older) which is Prozac and That hasn’t prevented SSRIs ...
Alcoholism is a severe disease that has the potential to negatively impact not only the individual combating addiction, but also the family members involved with the addict (Park & Schepp, 2014). The documentary series A&E Intervention follows the daily lives of individuals combating addictions such as alcoholism and substance abuse. Throughout Gloria’s A&E episode, before her intervention there was rarely a moment that did not consist of her having an alcoholic beverage within arm’s reach. Gloria was in denial about her alcohol abuse, and seemed to be unattached to traumatic events that occurred in her life, including the death of her father, her stillborn childbirth, and both of her daughter’s complex relationships with her. This paper seeks
Imagine, a little boy sitting at home alone, hungry and scared because he doesn’t know where his parents are. Millions of children live this scenario every day because they have parents who abuse alcohol. Alcohol abuse is an addiction that affects everyone in the drinker’s life. Many examples of this are shown in The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls and her siblings are heavily impacted by their father’s drinking habit and are constantly forced to take care of themselves. Having a parent with a harmful history of alcohol abuse increases the risk of child maltreatment greatly, alcohol use disorder creates many problems especially when children are involved so government should step in and remove children from that environment.
After denial the family tries to get rid of the problem. The non-alcoholic parent realizes that the drinking is not normal and tries to tell the alcoholic to quit, be more careful, or at least cut down. The parent also tries to hide the problems from the outside and keep up a strong look. The kids may now start to have problems due to the family stress.(Harrison)
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.
Severe mood swings, violent rages, memory loss—each of these problems were a part of my family life during the past two or three years. These problems are the result of alcoholism. Recently, a member of my family realized his abuse of alcohol was a major problem to not only himself, but also to those around him. He would lose control of his temper and often would not even remember doing it the next day. Alcohol became a part of his daily life including work, home, and any other activities. His problem was that of a "hidden" and "high-society" alcoholism. When he was threatened with the loss of his job and the possibility of losing his family, this man knew it was time to get help. After he reached his lowest point, he took the first step towards recovery—admitting his problem.
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.
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...
Drug addiction, alcoholism, and self-identity issues have a seemingly direct relationship to growing up with an alcoholic parent. Children with at least one alcoholic parental figure should be provided with early intervention counseling. These children need help to develop their own identities, outside of the parent’s addiction, and receive proactive treatment against developing addictive and self-destructive behaviors.
Latham, P.K., & Napier, T.L. (1992). Psychosocial consequences of alcohol misuse in the family of origin. The International Journal of the Addictions, 27, 1137-1158.
The reactive phase: in this phase the family members will be very cautious to the alcoholic’s behavior, this phase begins with family denials, coping strategies and social disengagement. It is during this phase that family is passive an...