Family

Did you ever watch the show Intervention on A&E? You’ve probably caught at least an episode or two during the last 15 years it’s run on TV. The show offers millions of viewers a rudimentary idea of what happens during the process of an intervention. It provides a look into what life is like for people who

The weather is taking a turn as you flip your calendar over to November. It seems the year has flown by once again and the holidays are fast approaching. Holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve mean a fun, relaxing time for many. Coming together with friends and family to celebrate the

When you watch a loved one struggle with substance abuse, all you want to do is help. It’s heartbreaking to see them trapped in the stop-and-start-again cycle, or maybe trying to quit in the first place. Many people who are clean and sober today credit their time in addiction treatment as the catalyst for change in their life. But do you know how to talk about treatment with your loved one?

No family wants to watch their loved one battle with addiction. Parents want the best for their children, children shouldn’t have to see their parents struggle with substance abuse, and at the end of the day, siblings support one another, too. Watching a family member suffer from substance addiction is an almost unbearable experience for everyone involved.

At the same time, people in active addiction often wear their family members down to their last nerves. Addiction leads people to take advantage of the countless chances they’re given, manipulate family members to get their needs met, and more, which keeps the painful cycle going. What role could your family possibly have in your loved one’s recovery?

If your loved one struggles with substance abuse, you know this familiar pain all too well. You’ve asked kindly, you’ve begged and pleaded, you’ve made threats, or maybe you’ve even given up. You’ve tried everything you can think of to get your loved one to stop using drugs but it seems like nothing you do makes a difference.

Regardless of how someone is attempting to cope with their addictions, or however isolating it may feel, suffering from an addiction affects everyone who comes into contact with the sufferer. No matter how much distance someone tries to put between themselves and others, they will always affect those they love in some way.

Suffering from addiction to drugs or alcohol has a massive impact on your life. No matter how isolated you may feel while suffering from addiction, the effects stretch far beyond your own personal experience. Suffering from an addiction affects everyone – family, friends, and even professional peers. Often, the family takes the brunt of this distress without the addict even being aware of it. Fortunately, recovery can also ripple out and improve the wellbeing of the entire family.

It can be a common practice for someone to hide their drinking from their family. The goal may be to keep a spouse from seeing how much someone drinks, but people may also hide their drinking from their children. However, hiding one’s drinking habits rarely goes as planned.