Addiction affects entire families. These days, addiction therapy and treatment can not only extend to the individual struggling with substance abuse but to family and friends too.Family addiction therapy is an option for anyone close to someone that is abusing alcohol or substances. Addiction is often a disease of the family. It can put family members through a lot of stress, emotionally, physically, financially, and more. It can cause experiences that are sad, damaging, or frightening.
Family members usually come up with unhealthy strategies to cope with the addiction. As the family becomes more dysfunctional and fragile, younger members may be especially susceptible to being traumatized or negatively influenced by being exposed to addiction.
How Families Cope
Abuse of substances can have different effects depending on the situation, but no one can deny that they affect the dynamics of the family in a lot of unhealthy ways. These can include:
- Safety The family may be put at risk in many ways
- Negative emotions- Others may feel anger, guilt, anxiety, resentment, and more
- Responsibility- Certain members of the family may have responsibilities that aren't appropriate for their age
- Communication- Family communication may become negative, with positive interaction being limited. Concerns and needs of others may not be met
- Boundaries and structure- Structure may be lacking in the home, with limited parental involvement and boundaries that are loose or do not exist. This results in children having confusion over what behaviors are negative or inappropriate
- Denial- A family member may not face the issue and deny that it exists, not wanting to face it or because of fear
- Relationships- Abuse can result in damaged relationships, that continue through generations due to behavioral modeling that is negative. Abusers often isolate, spending social time mostly with other abusers
Coping with Unhealthy Behaviors
Families may often have unhealthy ways of dealing with addiction, such as denial or enabling. However, they can feed the addiction and get in the way of a successful recovery or path to treatment.
Codependency
This happens when an individual must adapt to a dysfunctional family. Behaviors that qualify as codependent can be learned attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts that have you neglecting your desires/needs for the problem of a loved one.
These include constantly worrying about the addiction and abuse, denial or isolation, reacting in an irrational or violent way in events regarding an addiction, having low self esteem, aiming your misplaced anger at children or the pets, engaging in unhealthy behaviors to cope, and having to base your mood around theirs.
Enabling is also supporting abuse by taking away consequences. This makes it possible for the person to continue their addiction and the unhealthy cycle continues. These include using with them, ignoring or repressing your feelings, accepting excuses, protecting their image, making everything appear normal, and feeling guilty whenever you can't stop consequences.
Family therapy may be able to help. It provides a space that is safe where people can learn things about how they can assist someone's recovery. It also allows the family to heal as well as recover collectively and make positive changes that can improve their home and relationships.
Involvement in recovery and treatment with the family may prevent relapse, but it is always a risk. Know the stages of what relapse involves and the signs it may be happening. Get in touch with us today to find out about what family programs are available to help.
