Family Roles in the Treatment of Addiction

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Feb 20, 2024

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1 Family Roles in the Treatment of Addiction Zoei Castillon Grand Canyon University Family Dynamics & Comm Ed-Treatment of Addiction & Substance Use Disorders Rebekah Stephens February 11 th , 2024 Family Roles in the Treatment of Addiction

2 In 2022 around 48.7 million people from the age of 12 to older, struggled with substance abuse (SAMHSA, 2022). Although many individuals struggle with substance abuse, their struggles also fall onto family members, friends, and loved ones. Family systems struggle when their loved one is dealing with substance abuse and often times it throws off their balance and routine. When someone struggles with addiction, there are many things affected like roles and relationships, especially when that invidual is on a journey to recovery. No matter the size of the family, every family is a system. Every member of the system has a role and most of the time they have relationships with other members of the system. When someone from the family is struggling with substance use, the whole family can be affected emotionally, socially, and financially. In most family systems, they consist of two parents and a few children (Hardey, 2023). Although many family systems are different and there are many blended families, in most standard cases there are two adults and a few children. Starting with emotionally, families who have a member that is struggling with substance abuse, will be affected emotionally. When someone in the system is an addict, member of the family will feel emotions such as exhausted, frustrated, sad, angry, helpless, etc. These emotions come from seeing their loved one struggle with substance use every day. Often times, people go through stages of emotions and the longer the member struggles with addiction, then the more emotions the family will feel (Hardey, 2023). Another way that families are affected, is socially. Sometimes families are too distracted with trying to help their loved one that they forget about their social life. Often times the family will be distracted or preoccupied with other things that they don’t have time to go out. It’s also possible that other families refuse to go out with families that have addiction in the household. Lastly, the family can be affected financially. Families are

3 especially affected when a parent, guardian, or provider, is struggling with substance abuse. Often times they can’t hold a job, or they are incapable of going to their job every day (Hardey, 2023). If a provider is not making money, then the system will feel the effects of that. Even if a dependent is the one struggling with substance abuse, the providers can have a hard time managing their careers along with their dependent. They may be distracted, or they may be covering up for the dependent and trying to keep them out of trouble which may cost them. That last statement is an example of an enabler. An enabler is when someone is encouraging the behavior intentionally or unintentionally. In most cases families tend to enable their loved ones without even realizing it (Cohen, 2022). An example of this actually happens in a popular show called Euphoria. Euphoria is a show that has a lot of addiction, it’s primarily what the show is about. One of the girls in the show has a father who is an alcoholic and is addicted to pain medication. Her father would sneak into their house (her parents were separated) and would steal items that had good value. One night he got caught by his daughter and begged her not to tell anyone. Out of fear of losing her father and her relationship with him, she kept his secrete. Although she meant no harm and just wanted to have her father back, doing this enabled him to continue stealing from them. Even providers can enable their kids without the intent to do so. For example, let’s say a teenager is struggling with substance use and they keep skipping school. The school with eventually call their parents to inform them that their child has been missing school. The parent may feel obligated to cover for them in that moment and then try talking to their teenager later. Although their intention is to make sure their teenager is staying out of trouble, they are still allowing their kid to miss school and get away with it, which is enabling them. There are many different roles and way family member enable other loved ones.

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4 Substance abuse can and most likely will cause many problems in a family system. Abuse is something that is more common in households when there is substance abuse involved. If a parent struggles with substance abuse, they are 3 times more likely to abuse their child physically or sexually. Children who struggle with substance abuse increase their chances to 50 percent more likely being arrested as juveniles and are 40 percent more likely to convict violent crimes (Lander, 2013). There are certain substances that make people be more aggressive or experience extreme high and extreme lows. This can cause people to lash out when they are in a bad state. Substance abuse and addiction can change the way people act and the way they behave, so it is very likely that they can lead up to aggressive behavior and actions. It is also possible that people who have violent tendencies has nothing to do with the substance use. People can be abusive with or without substances, however substance use will not make it better. A family is a system that has roles and rules and operates a certain way. Every system is different and works differently than others. Substance abuse is something that can mess up a whole system. People in the system are affected in many different ways when a loved one struggle with substance use. When someone struggles with addiction, there are many things affected, especially when that invidual is on a journey to recovery.

5 References: Cohen, M. (2022). Signs you’re enabling a loved one’s addiction . WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/features/addiction-enabling-a-loved-one Hardey, S. (2023, May 3). Family addiction: How does addiction affect families? . American Addiction Centers. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/guide-for-families- i#:~:text=Substance%20abuse%20affects%20a%20family,hardship%2C%20poverty%2C %20or%20bankruptcy. Lander, L. (2013). The impact of Substance Use Disorders on families and children: From theory to practice . Social work in public health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725219/#:~:text=Parental%20Substance %20Abuse%20and%20Child,crime%20(USDHHS%2C%201996). SAMHSA. (2023, November 13). HHS, Samhsa Release 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data . https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20231113/hhs- samhsa-release-2022-nsduh-data#:~:text=In%202022%2C%2048.7%20million %20people,an%20AUD%20and%20a%20DUD.

Family Roles in the Treatment of Addiction

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