Addiction and the Family

Drug and alcohol addiction have the power to damage family relationships, sometimes irreparably. Addiction can impact the family in a variety of ways including decreasing the stability of the home, creating a lack of unity in the family, decreasing mental and physical health of both the addict and family members, and creating a chaotic family dynamic. Chronic abuse can cause financial problems for families. An addicted person and sometimes family members can have trouble meeting work obligations since they put their addiction first or their family member’s addiction first. A drug or alcohol abuser can have mood swings which affect the mood and functioning of the family and potentially opening the door for physical violence in the home. If the abuser is a parent, their behavior affects how the family functions and can create self esteem problems in their children. It also can create a sense of helplessness in the child since there is relatively nothing they can do to change the adults use. If the drug abuser is a child, the family may be enabling the child to continue to use alcohol and drugs or may feel helpless in their ability to stop the problem.

Addiction is a progressive disease which means that without treatment it will only get worse. At Caron Texas, we know how deeply the family is affected by the use of drugs or alcohol and we address these issues by using family therapy as an important component of our therapy. Through family education on such topics as coping mechanisms and effective strategies for dealing with the disease, we help families to prepare for when their loved one returns home after treatment.