SOWK 2020 Part 2 Impact Of Families And Loved Ones

Addiction: Impact of Families and Loved Ones
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Addiction: Impact of Families and Loved Ones
Introduction
According to Health Canada, alcohol and drug addiction is a growing national problem, as is the case with most of the developed world. Recent data from the country’s Department of Health indicates that the number of Canadians who met the criteria for alcohol and drug dependence or abuse grew from 18.1% in 2012 to 19% in 2016. Interestingly, the most abused substance in Canada is alcohol, with 77 000 people between 2015-2016 seeking care for alcohol-related problems; these figures are higher than heart attacks (Health Canada, 2017). Although the prevalence of smoking has dropped significantly in the last decade, tobacco addiction is still a significant area of concern in Canada. It remains among the top leading causes of premature death in the country (Lander, Howsare & Byrne, 2013). Health Canada is collaborating with intervention programs across the country to address the increasing cases of addiction across all populations.
Existing literature refers to addiction as a family disease because its effects go beyond the person with the problem to the entire family system and loved ones. Although majorly overlooked by many, addiction has a profound impact on both families and loved ones of the affected individuals. This health issue exposes the two groups to stress, violence, disruption of routines, and sometimes total dysfunction of the family system (Lander, Howsare & Byrne, 2013). This paper is about ways in which alcohol and drug addiction affect family and loved ones. Special attention is on the difficulties that these parties confront when trying to respond to or cope up with the changes that addiction brings forth for a family member or a friend. In addition, the paper details ways in which families and loved ones can support the affected person(s) during their walk to addiction recovery.
Background and Context
The Disease of Addiction
CASA (2005) defines addiction as “a complex disease with a biological, sociological and psychological component.” It is characterized by its progressive nature, denial and concealment, chronic diseases and lapses and relapses. Understanding the risk factors for addiction is also critical. Some research, including studies on adoption and twins, have shown a genetic and biological predisposition to addiction. Scientists across the world estimate that genetics account for about 40-60% of a person’s risk to addiction (CASA, 2005). Most of the literature suggests that a person’s genes play a significant role in vulnerability to addiction. However, other researchers emphasize that children who have grown up in families where a senior member had a Substance Use Disorder are likely to model their adult behavior on what they saw in their familial experience. Other risk factors include social environment, ethnicity, gender, and developmental stage (Reiter et al., 2016). Overall, nature and nurture influence an individual’s resistance or vulnerability to addiction.
Addiction and Changing Family Structures
The family structure has become more complex. Traditionally, one could explain the impact of addiction within the confines of a nuclear family. Today, families have grown to single parent, step, foster, and multigenerational families. Thus, the impact of addiction differs according to a specific family structure (Bradshaw et al., 2016). For example, the effects of a parent with an addiction problem to a child in a single-parent family are slightly different from the one in a nuclear family. Children from a single-parent family can end up in child protective services, which majorly has emotional effects while those from a nuclear family can live with the other parent without an addiction problem. However, there are still impacts of addiction that cut across all family structures.
Consequences of Addiction on the Individual
The adverse effects of alcohol and drug addiction on the person with a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) can help understand its impact on families and loved ones. It can also inform practical intervention approaches that these two parties can use to support individuals suffering from substance abuse disorders (CASA, 2005). These consequences generally fall into three categories, including psychophysical withdrawal, loss of behavioral control, and role maladaptation. An individual with an addiction problem loses control of their behavior due to the impairment of their reasoning and inhibition abilities. The person may begin acting violently and short-term memory loss (Mate, 2008). Psychophysical withdrawal is when the affected individual experiences physical symptoms because of withdrawal from substance use. Some symptoms include fever, vomiting, nervousness, agitation, and significant changes in sleeping and eating patterns. Role maladaptation is when an individual begins to abandon their expected roles such as providing for basic needs for children, failing to report to work, involvement in criminal activity, among others (Bradshaw et al., 2016).
Impact on Family Functioning
Although the body of literature emphasizes the effects of addiction from the perspective of parents (mostly mothers), its influence extends to brothers, sisters, and members of the extended family. In other cases, it continues to friends and coworkers (Nutt, 2012). However, there has been some recent consideration of the experiences of brothers, sisters, and other loved ones living in families of a person with SUD. This paper combines and discusses the impact of addiction from the perspectives of all these parties.
Domestic Violence
Often, there is a link between addiction and violence in both the aggressor and the victim. Partner violence causes not only physical harm to a family member (spouse or child) but also psychological damage to the victim or a child who witnesses such violence. Relevant studies associate increased risk of inflicting injury on a spouse and sometimes children in addiction cases among men (Crozier & Patrick, 2016). A 2015 American study on substance-abusing men established that an increase in the risk of partner violence by 8-11% on days when men drank alcohol or used other drugs in comparison to the days they were sober. In the same study, the abused women reported severe violence when their husbands drank alcohol or used drugs within two hours of abuse (Lander, Howsare & Byrne, 2013).
Without proper psychological help from a behavioral health professional, the effects of domestic violence extend to the adult lives of family members and young loved ones. The list ranges from children, cousins to sometimes it includes distant relatives, particularly for extended families residing within the same compound (Mate, 2008). Studies verify that often, when a child grows up in a violent environment, they tend to mimic the behaviors of their parents. An excellent example is a son of a violent alcoholic father becomes abusive to his wife, while the daughter to violent alcoholic parents may become battered wives or sometimes end up becoming violent alcoholics themselves (Crozier & Patrick, 2016).
In addition, women who are alcoholic or use substances have a higher probability of becoming victims of domestic violence. Another UK study established that 46% of women who were severely assaulted were drunk more than once in the past year as compared to 16% of those who were not victims of partner violence. It is also highly probable for women with SUD to enter new violent relationships in comparison to other women (Lander, Howsare & Byrne, 2013). Since the structures of families are changing, the violence may be directed to a child or a member of the extended family in the case where the person with an addiction problem is a single parent living with a child and a relative.
Abuse and Neglect of Children
Canadian Child Welfare reports that addiction is a critical factor in child abuse and neglect and estimates substance use as the root of at least 70% of all the reported cases of child maltreatment (including physical and sexual violence) (Health Canada, 2017). Regularly, alcohol and drug abuse cause paranoia, hallucinations, and anxiety. Thus, there is a rise in the risk of aggressive or unstable behavior by the substance user towards a child. Addiction also raises the chances of a parent being over punitive when they discipline their children.
Every child that experiences abuse or neglect is traumatized and has their way of responding to the trauma. Although some children recover quickly, most are left with long-lasting effects. Several mental and psychological impact develop in children who have gone through these experiences (Crozier & Patrick, 2016). They include low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, dissociation, withdrawn, hypervigilance, persistent fear, and problems in establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships. In worst-case scenarios, these scars remain with them through adulthood and increase the risk of substance abuse. Therefore, it becomes a cycle because one may need a coping mechanism from these long-lasting effects.
Shifting Family Roles
Traditionally, every member of the family had their roles, but the societal changes have made it possible for family members to change their traditional family roles. Depending on the family structure, roles in families vary. However, addiction causes a shift of responsibilities in most families. A person with a Substance Use Disorder often abdicates their family responsibilities and roles because most of their time is spent on acquisition and use of substances (Bradshaw et al., 2016). Parentification is common in these families; primarily, the child takes the position and performs the responsibilities of the parent. This phenomenon has profound effects on children and leads to emotional distress, behavioral issues, and inappropriate sexual behaviors (Lander, Howsare & Byrne, 2013). In families where both parents (nuclear family) and a parent (single-parent family) develops SUD, it is common to see the oldest becoming the father and mother to the middle and youngest ones.
Assuming the father in a nuclear family who is the breadwinner develops an addiction for alcohol and fails to provide for the basic needs of his family, pay bills or play the role of a husband and father. Then, the mother in the family may be forced to step up and become the provider to the children by working several jobs to meet the needs of the whole family (Crozier & Patrick, 2016). Although through struggle, the mother meets the basic needs of the family, both the children and the wife lack emotional support from their husband and father. It becomes challenging to perform the roles of the person with an addiction problem in a family without compromising personal values. In several cases whe...