How Drug Addiction Affects the Entire Family
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Peace Valley Recovery is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Our mission is to provide patient-centered care that focuses on healing and recovery from addiction. This blog provides information, news, and uplifting content to help people in their recovery journey.
Addiction affects the family.
It’s easy to think of the ways drug addiction affects the person using substances. As addiction progresses, the impact only gets worse with time. There can be short- and long-term health effects, loss of jobs, increasing financial troubles, and run-ins with the law. Living in active addiction is not a simple way to live.
However, people who struggle with addiction are not the only ones who feel the impact. The effects of active addiction stretch out far beyond the person using substances. Immediate family members are also affected when their loved one has a drug or alcohol problem. Whether it’s a child, parent, or spouse, addiction alters the lives of anyone who loves the person.
After her brother was diagnosed with the disease of addiction, Sam Fowler and her family had to change the way they lived their lives. In her talk, she tells about her experiences suffering from “the family disease.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Addiction affects the entire family in many ways. The specific effects depend on which person in the family unit has the problem. Relationships, finances, safety, and more are all at risk.
For example, children with a parent with an addiction problem grow up with less support and guidance. On the other hand, parents with children who abuse substances have different issues. Additionally, children growing up with a sibling with a problem have difficulties. Even spouses of an addict also experience an extraordinary impact.
If your loved one struggles with drug addiction, how should you respond? What are some of the many ways addiction affects the entire family? Where can families with a loved one in active addiction find help?