While a person’s relationship with alcohol and drugs may seem like their personal business, no one should be affected by and, in certain cases even know about it. The reality is often different from this expectation – your partner, family members, friends, and even colleagues can feel the negative impact of your bad habits. If you live with your relatives or you spend a lot of time together, the best case scenario is they will notice the changes in your behavior, appearance, and actions, the worst one is that they will be damaged by your addiction.
In our guide, we will analyze the effects of addiction on family, see how children suffer from their parents’ addiction and vice versa, as well as explore the topic of recovery from addiction and its significance for your family bond.
Effects of an Addicted Parent on Young Children
| Negative Effect | Description |
Emotional Issues | From stress due to the violent outbursts of their parents to social isolation from their peers – kids are often the first victims of their parents’ bad habits. It is hard to predict the behavior of a person who drinks often or takes drugs regularly hence, a young child is forced to stay quiet, avoid confrontation, and adapt to the most extreme circumstances just to protect themselves – this will inevitably lead to further problems in the future when the kid is a grown-up |
Financial Troubles | If an individual spends most of their money on alcohol or drugs, depletes their savings, or sells necessary items from their household, their financial struggles will result in the limited access of their child to various hobbies, activities, toys, and books – when getting drunk or high is your priority, there is not much space for other things |
Educational Challenges | Whether a child experiences the effects of addiction first-hand or they feel something is off in their house, one of the first issues they have is a lack of concentration and inability to pay attention to their studies – their academic performance takes a hit which often jeopardizes their chances to get in a better school or college later on |
Parent-Child Role Reversal | One of the common effects of addiction on family is the transfer of parental responsibilities to a child – a young kid may have to take care of their siblings, do the chores, and even earn money while their parent is focused on their desire to get another drink or do drugs |
Higher Risk of Addiction | Although substance abuse is not supposed to manifest in children on a genetic level, unfortunately, kids who grew up in households where drinking or taking drugs was common are more likely to become addicts themselves. Children imitate the behavior of their parents, whether it is good or bad which is why it is important to be a solid role model for the young generation |
5 Ways Addicted Children Affect Their Parents
While a parent’s substance abuse and its negative effect on their children is a more widespread phenomenon, sometimes the reverse is true – an adolescent develops an addiction that results in numerous consequences for themselves personally as well as in problems for their parents or legal guardians. Here are just a few issues that a parent might deal with when their child becomes an addict:
| Consequence of Addiction | Description |
Guilt | Although the addiction of a child is not always the fault of their parents, it is only natural to feel you let your kid down somewhere along the way, which made them get addicted to drugs or alcohol. Parents of addicts go through all sorts of emotions – from shame to anger |
Physical Abuse | One of the worst effects of drug abuse on family members is aggressive behavior – whether an adolescent gets mad at their parent or they want to get money for alcohol or drugs, the conflict often escalates and turns into abuse. This is particularly common when a parent is elderly or disabled, and the child in question is already a teenager |
Financial Manipulation | A young person rarely has money to finance their addiction – they feel really desperate if they lack finances for expensive drugs. They can force their parents to pay for things that harm them both short- and long-term, lie to get money, or steal while the parent is not watching |
Strained Communication | The relationship between parents and children becomes complicated once alcohol or drugs are involved. Sometimes an addicted person is hiding their problems from their loved ones and sometimes their issues come to light – in both instances, the interactions between an addict and their relatives are no longer the same |
Alienation | Addicts and their relatives can make the decision to cut off their family members for a variety of reasons – the addict may want to stay away from people that do not enable their self-destructive behavior while healthy family members try to do their best to have peace in the household especially if the addict has young siblings |
Long-Term Consequences of Addiction on Family
While the effects of addiction on family are felt almost immediately, there are also long-lasting consequences that may not manifest long after the person is no longer drinking or doing drugs:
- Anxiety
Even after your relative no longer harms your family with alcohol or drugs, if the addiction lasted long and brought a lot of instability in your household, there is always an underlying feeling that it may happen again – especially if the triggers were not eliminated.
- Trust Issues
Sadly, drug addicts are prone to lying whether they are manipulating others to get the drug they want or hiding their addiction. This ruins the trust between partners, siblings, parents, and children, and it is hard to ask your loved ones to believe you are not lying to them once more.
- Isolation
Whether the addiction was treated or not, family members often try to keep their distance from the person who was once suffering from substance abuse. In some instances, there is no reconciliation hence, the addict and their relatives continue to suffer from extreme loneliness.
How to Remedy Issues Caused by Addiction in Family
Even though you may feel the effects of drug addiction on family or your excessive drinking was too severe, and you cannot repair relationships with your inner circle, there is still a chance to rebuild your family. Here is what you can do to make sure your family unit is happy together:
- Acknowledge Your Mistakes
Do not lie, do not hide, do not avoid complicated topics – a simple and heartfelt apology goes a long way. Admit you have a problem and make a solemn promise to your family to get better.
- Undergo Individual Therapy
Do not hesitate to go to a therapist when things get tough – even if you have not stopped using drugs or drinking yet. An individual equipped with knowledge and skills to help you will listen to you without judgment and suggest how to deal with your addiction and mend broken family bonds.
- Seek Therapy With Your Family
While private conversations with a therapist will help you, the relationship with a partner, child, or parent may require additional effort. Open up to a mental health professional and create a safe space for your family members to speak about the negative impact of your past behavior.
- Rely on a Support Network
From putting your trust in Alcoholics Anonymous to removing people that further accommodate your addiction and may encourage you to continue drinking or using drugs, there are many ways to find like-minded people and show your family you are serious about your sobriety.
- Follow a 12-Step Program
One of the best strategies for a recovering addict is to depend on an approach thousands of individuals have already tried in order to put an end to alcoholism and drug use, heal themselves, and become better people for themselves and their loved ones.
FAQs
- Can my addiction impact my family?
Apart from the addict, it should come as no surprise that their family is the first to feel the impact of substance abuse. Whether you get in a car accident because you were drunk or you depleted family savings to purchase drugs, your immediate family will be the ones to struggle as a result of your actions.
- Will a child’s addiction hurt their parents?
Despite the misconception that only the parent’s addiction can harm the child and not the other way around, it is, of course, not true. The parents of a young person who drinks too much or takes drugs will feel both emotional and financial hardships because of their child’s reckless behavior.
- What are the harmful effects of drug use on family dynamics?
The relationship between you and your relatives can be tainted by substance abuse – addicts tend to manipulate people they are close with, use physical force, put a financial strain on family members who trust their judgment without knowing about the drugs in the first place, and bring educational and professional troubles to individuals who can no longer focus on their education or work.
- How does substance abuse affect the family in the long run?
Loneliness, trust issues, neverending anxiety – no matter how young or old your family members are, any of them can be hurt by addiction, especially if you failed to address the problems or ignored their concerns.
- Is it possible to heal together as a family after a parent or child overcomes addiction?
While it is always a challenge to repair a broken relationship after addiction impacts your relationship, recovery is possible just like reconciliation – if you are committed to staying sober and showing your loved ones your issues are in the past, with the help of therapy, you can feel like a normal family once more.
