ALCOHOLISM AND THE FAMILY
“Dad’s too sick to go to work again …. what will happen if he loses his job?”
“If only he would drink like other people…”
“I don’t dare accept invitations from friends anymore…”
“It seems that we are always fighting and that nothing is ever resolved ….”
Comments like these reflect the tension, confusion and anxiety that the family feels when one of its members has a problem with drugs or alcohol.
Alcoholism is an illness that is characterized by the gradual loss of control over alcohol. Drinking becomes a necessity. That being the case, the patient with addiction feels he or she can no longer live without drinking.
Alcoholism is not a vice. It is an illness which is insidious, progressive and fatal.
No one is an alcoholic or drug addict through negligence or through lack of strength of will. As happens with other illnesses, alcoholism or drug addiction can be overcome if the patient submits himself or herself to treatment in a center for recovery.
HOW DOES ALCOHOLISM AFFECT THE FAMILY?
A dependency on alcohol generally victimizes one member of a family. Nevertheless, it affects the whole family.
It is nearly impossible to live with the problems associated with this illness and escape without emotional difficulties. It produces within the family anxieties, conflicts, feelings of guilt and isolation.
The person with addiction adopts an attitude of blaming others, which never resolves the problems that exist. The injuries and interfamily problems create a real threat to the well-being of the family. This results in the need for help and support for all members of the family as well as the person with the addiction.