Alcohol Addiction in the Family and the Damaging Consequences

By habits in Overspending on February 14th, 2012

Alcoholism effects on the family are widespread, especially because introducing addiction into the home involves every member of the addict’s family. There are three separate ways that alcoholism can have an influence on the traditional family unit. The first is physically, then mentally, and financially. Each member of the alcoholic’s family will experience their addiction in a different way. This can result in role reversal, mental illness, trauma and social introversion for those who are exposed to these harmful effects all the time.

Alcoholism: The Physical Effects on the Family

Those who suffer the most are babies or very young children who are either born into a home with an active alcoholic, or born addicted to alcohol because their mother has alcohol addiction. A parent who hasn’t stopped drinking throughout their pregnancy risks giving birth to a brain damaged child, or a child with physical deformities. This is more widely called Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, and shows itself in various ways. The effects of alcohol addiction on the family throughout a pregnancy are the most unsafe.

Children who are lucky enough to be born fairly normal often experience depression, anxiety and have chronically low self esteem. The same can be said for children who grow up with an alcoholic father. The physical trauma that accompanies alcoholism, like aggression, assault and living in fear of being killed – carries with these children into their adult lives. Not only do they become prime candidates for alcoholism themselves, but they tend to have trouble forming lasting relationships and holding down jobs in a team inspired environment.

Alcoholism on the Family: The Mental Effects There’s a lot to be said about growing up in an unsound home, with someone with alcohol addiction living under the same roof as the rest of your family. Usually this seriously affects the mental health of everyone – from the mother, or father, to the siblings. Because of the constant lies, mistrust, scrounging for money and emotional abuse, many parents split up, resulting in their children developing an irrational fear of abandonment. Alcohol addiction effects on the family also include frequent guilt, or belief that the alcoholic is to blame for their behaviour, co- pendency, extreme loneliness and humiliation.

The unsound and at times physically and emotionally abusive parental dynamic that occurs because of an alcoholic parent, harms the way the child sees social relationships. When a dominant parent with an addiction to alcohol is adulterous, controlling and damaging, this becomes the custom for the growing children in the family. Alcoholism effects on the family also manifest in shame issues that arise in the spouse and children, as they have to deal with the stigma of living with an alcoholic. The alcoholic will often collapse into public displays of anger, irrational behaviour or worse.

The Economic Effects of Alcoholism on the Family

An alcoholic will spend every penny they have on alcohol, which often leaves their families no money for basic needs like food, rent or transport. This further alienates them from their friends and extended family, as they lose everything and have to constantly struggle to survive. So the effects of alcoholism on the family are continually destructive, which is why it’s so imperative to get the alcoholic in question assistance before the lives of their family members are devestated.

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