Alcohol Use in Families
Often, the trauma you experienced as a child, such as parental neglect from alcoholic parents, can stay with you into adulthood. This is why it’s critical to understand how you may have been impacted as a child by being raised by alcoholics. Below are five personality types of children of alcoholics that can help you better understand how your upbringing may have impacted your personality as an adult. Resources are available for teens and adults impacted by alcoholic parents and parents who struggle with alcohol addiction. These resources may include individual or family therapy sessions, school counseling, support groups, extended family, friends, or addiction resources.
Options for Addiction Treatment
Being honest can prepare you for communication skills later in life, and your parent may appreciate that you felt comfortable opening up to them about your feelings. The National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) provides resources, information, and referrals to counseling services and support programs. Many states also have free or low-cost alcohol and drug use helplines that can provide advice and assistance for individuals challenged by substance misuse. There are so many things that alcoholic families don’t talk about – to each other and especially to the outside world. When there are things so awful that they can’t be talked about, you feel there is something awful about you and that you’ll be judged and cast away.
Reach out to professionals and support groups to find the help and resources you need to navigate this difficult time in your life. Research indicates that genetic factors play a significant role in an individual’s vulnerability to developing alcoholism. A family history of alcohol abuse increases the likelihood of an individual also developing AUD.
- During childhood, you came to believe that you’re fundamentally flawed, and the cause of the family dysfunction.
- However, evidence suggests that higher levels of impulsivity and sensitivity may be common.
- Unfortunately, and for obvious reasons, children often don’t have access to these support groups while they’re still young.
- More likelyits shame and simply not knowingthat adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs), as a group, tend to struggle with a particular set of issues.
- Daughters of alcoholics are more likely to marry alcoholic men, perpetuating the cycle for future generations.
Support for Me and My Family
Symptoms or consequences of your parent’s dependency or substance use could affect not only your family life but also your personal life, including school, sleep, meals, homework, safety, and mental health. You might feel confused about how to proceed, where to reach out for emotional support, or what treatment options are available for you, your parent, and your family. If you grew up in an alcoholic or addicted family, chances are it had a profound impact on you.
Behavioral Indicators of Alcoholism in Parents
Calls to our general hotline may be answered by private treatment providers. We may be paid a fee for marketing or advertising by organizations that can assist with treating people with substance use disorders. Given the heterogeneous nature of alcohol user disorder and the often co-occurring mental health disorders, helping and treating the complexities of families affected can be very challenging but not impossible.
Now you continue to take responsibility for other people’s feelings or for problems that you didn’t cause. External messages that you’re bad, crazy, and unlovable become internalized. You’re incredibly hard on yourself and struggle to forgive or Medications & Drugs That Cause Hair Loss love yourself. During childhood, you came to believe that you’re fundamentally flawed, and the cause of the family dysfunction.
Children whose parents use alcohol may not have had a good example to follow from their childhood, and may never have experienced traditional or harmonious family relationships. So adult children of parents with AUD may have to guess at what it means to be « normal. » As painful as it is for someone to live with alcohol use disorder, they aren’t the only ones affected.