Substance Abuse as a Family Illness

Substance Abuse as a Family Illness

Last Updated (Wednesday, 31 December 1969 15:59) Monday, 25 February 2008 00:00

Substance abuse not only affects the individual that is misusing drugs or alcohol but also dramatically impacts his or her family. 

•  Partners or spouses of substance abusing individuals are likely to develop a hostile or codependent relationship with their substance abusing mate.
  
• It is highly likely that a parent with a substance abuse problem will negatively impact the wellbeing of their children - not because they intend to but because the substance gradually becomes the center of the substance abuser's life. In extreme circumstances, children in these situations try to stabilize the family by parenting their parents.
  
• Substance abusing elderly people are likely to have concurrent physical problems. They are much more prone to accidents and may become dependent upon the care of their grown children. This often produces stresses between the substance abusing elder and their grown children.
  
• Substance abusing  adolescents are much more likely to have legal problems and to fail in school. They are likely to have conflict with their parents and to make poor adaptations to adult life.
  
• Adults with a serious substance abuse problem may have trouble sustaining jobs and the resultant financial problems may result in them having to move back with their parents. This often results in depression and severe injury to the self-esteem of the substance abusing person and is likely to bring financial hardship for the parents.
  
• Probably the most serious concern for our culture is the emergence of substance abuse in adolescents. We know from multiple studies on the subject that adolescents who begin abusing drugs or alcohol by the age of 15 are four times as likely to develop a substance dependence in adulthood.