How Does Addiction Affect the Whole Family?

We often hear about the harmful bearings of addiction on the user, but what about the bearings it has on those around the addict? Addiction is frequently considered a family disease, even though those entrenched in the world of addiction never go into it with the intention of hurting the people they love. But how does addiction affect the whole family?

Addiction is a complex disease beyond a person’s mental and physical control. It is precisely this pervasive nature that forces various roles upon family members as a way of coping with the addict’s habitual behaviors, wreaking havoc on every aspect of their lives. Everyone is affected differently by unmet developmental needs, neglected mental health and emotional well-being, impaired attachment, financial and legal troubles, emotional distress, and even physical violence. Children of addicts are also at high risk of developing SUD themselves. For this reason, treating only the user is limited in effectiveness. If your loved one is struggling with addiction and it affects you, it's essential to seek help.

How does addiction affect the whole family?

Communication becomes more difficult

Substance abuse can make keeping the lines of communication among family members difficult. Emotions may pile up; people may feel anger, frustration, confusion, isolation, or indifference. Despite everything, people may still avoid discussing the topic rather than address their concerns. Simply, it’s easier, or they don’t know how to approach and interact with the addicted loved one. An attempt to provide care and some comfort often turns into judgments, lecturing, shaming, and angry outbursts, influencing the core of addiction. On the other hand, an addict’s perception and behaviors change due to their substance of choice, often causing them to feel inadequate and ashamed, struggling to communicate with the people they care about most.

Trust begins to erode

Where there’s active addiction, there’s a breakdown of trust. Users focus all of their energy on satisfying the demands of the substance. It matters not how many truth-bending stories they need to craft and promises to break. That causes significant damage to the relationship. The trust of their family is broken, patched back up, then shattered all over again. They may experience a sense of loss, hopelessness, or disappointment. Their addicted loved one can even act aggressively or hide their disorder in secrecy, causing them to become more guarded and stop believing anything they hear.

Family roles change

While in the throes of active addiction, change in a family dynamic is almost inevitable. Family members often take on a role where they have to take care of the addict, even if it means shifting focus from their needs to those of the addict. For instance, children may be forced into a parental role if their parents cannot function independently.

This change of roles can quickly lead to over-involvement and increased tolerance of behavior that is, in reality, unacceptable. So, suppose you have someone in your family who’s battling addiction. In that case, you may soon find yourself taking on some of their responsibilities, providing financial support, lying or covering up for them, etc. For a while, these ways to cope may help you get along better within the family. But eventually, addiction becomes the main principle around which everybody functions. The elephant in the room seems to be getting bigger and bigger, but no one’s addressing it. And so, the addiction continues.

Risky behavior is emulated

Another way addiction can negatively impact the entire family, especially children, is for family members to begin to emulate the risky behavior of the person with an addiction. According to research, children of addicted parents often face a higher risk of inheriting their parents' addiction tendencies, a phenomenon known as "intergenerational addiction." This legacy of addiction can manifest in various ways, from a genetic predisposition to addictive behaviors to learned coping mechanisms that mimic their parents' unhealthy patterns. As these children grow up in an environment where addiction is normalized, breaking free from this cycle can be an even greater challenge. Hence, addressing addiction within a family is not only crucial for the current generation but also for preventing its perpetuation in the generations to come.

Financial instability

Addiction can impact the whole family in terms of finances as well. Financing an addiction is certainly not cheap. Users may overspend cash, leaving their family members with unpaid bills and rent to take care of. What’s more, they are more likely to lose their job due to their behavior and poor work performance or attendance. And if that happens, they could start dipping into their savings to quench their addiction, resulting in an inability to care for children and meet their family responsibilities. Finally, there may also be legal issues such as criminal driving offenses or possession, the associated cost of which may deplete family finances.

Physical and emotional abuse

Addiction is a disease that hijacks the brain of an addict, making their mind irrational and putting everyone around them on edge. Both struggling individuals and their family members start acting out of character. Thus, misunderstandings and simple agreements may quickly turn into explosive fights. To make things worse, when the emotions are all over the place and the stakes are high, it is not uncommon that physical abuse starts to occur on top of pre-existing emotional abuse. In situations like these, both parties risk becoming abusers or victims of abuse, which can become a deadly cycle that’s tough to break and scar everyone involved.

Dealing with addiction in the family

Is addiction affecting your family? The first – and most important – thing you can do for yourself and your loved ones is to seek professional help. Encourage them to attend 12-step meetings for peer support, professional guidance from trained sponsors, or inpatient rehabilitation.

Another part of re-establishing family connections is communication. If you genuinely want to help your loved one, you should find a way to understand what they’re going through. There’s no better way to do this than to educate yourself about the nature of the disease. It will help you understand that it isn’t a choice or a moral failing. And their inability to stop is not due to a lack of willpower or an unwillingness. That will break the stigma surrounding addiction and help you approach them and communicate better.

Thirdly, help them avoid relapse. Know their triggers, and encourage them to learn relapse prevention techniques. Also, inspire them to practice self-care. Being active while in recovery and implementing a balanced diet is crucial. For instance, physical exercise has many benefits, from improving sleep quality, aiding digestion, stimulating the reward system, and boosting mood. And it’s a great distraction from cravings.

Finally, take care of yourself too. Addiction affects everyone, from the person struggling with addiction to their nearest and dearest. For this reason, focus on tuning into and meeting your needs. You cannot let their addiction derail your own life and leave you drained physically, emotionally, and spiritually. That helps no one, as there’s no point in pouring from an empty cup.

It’s essential that the whole family gets counseling or therapy. That way, affected families will have much better chances of restoring their lives and relationships.

How does addiction affect the whole family – final words

How does addiction affect the whole family? In a nutshell, on all levels: emotional, psychological, financial, and social. But with professional assistance, people can get better and their relationships rebuilt.

Guest writer article: https://brightfuturestreatment.com/how-to-prevent-your-child-from-inheriting-your-addiction/

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