Addiction
Addiction Does Not Just Affect the Addict, It Affects Whole Families
Guest Blogger: Stacy Freeman
Those who start using drugs and eventually become addicted usually start out
as people with a problem they cannot deal with. It is shown that people who are the most susceptible to becoming addicts have a hard time coping with skills that are needed to succeed in life and overcome problems. They often begin using drugs because they feel depressed as a result of their inability to handle life and succeed. They find that when they use drugs, they feel a temporary sense of relief from the negative emotions associated with whatever situation it is that they are having trouble dealing with. However, this relief is only temporary.
When a person gets high, they momentarily feel better. However, when they come down, they often feel worse than they did before using the drugs in the first place. The person will then use again to feel better; only this time they won’t feel as good as the first time. They will begin to endlessly chase the initial feelings of euphoria that they first felt when using drugs. Often one becomes consumed with the search and forgets about everything else in their life that is important.
Addiction is Devastating to an Addict’s Loved Ones
People who love addicts are often tortured by their loved ones’ behavior. Many addicts start out life as some of the most talented, gifted, and caring people in the world. This can make the loss of these individuals much more painful for those that watch them get stolen by the cycle of addiction. Often times, children suffer the most from drug abuse, even if they are not the ones using.
Many children often feel that if their parents are unable to give them the love and attention that they deserve, it is somehow their own fault. This is a very heavy responsibility that many children who have addicts as parents take upon themselves.
In addition, a person who is suffering from some type of addiction is much more likely to be neglectful or abusive toward their children.
Children of Addicts Often Grow Up to Be Addicts Themselves
One of the biggest risk factors that cause a child to grow up to be an addict is having one or both parents in the home who suffer from addiction. Often children grow up to live what they learn. If they are surrounded by addiction and chaos, they will grow up feeling comfortable with this type of situation and also feel that it is normal. Because children often wish to emulate their parents’ behavior, they may actually feel a sense of pride in growing up to be just like their parents.
Another reason that the children of addicts often grow up to be addicts themselves is simply because most children of addicts have pretty crappy childhoods. Many of these kids do not get the counseling that they need to cope with these situations and are left to their own devices to deal with the feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety that is caused by growing up in a chaotic and often abusive environment. These kids, like their parents, find that when they use drugs, they feel a temporary sense of relief from their negative emotions associated with their traumatic past experiences.
There is Hope
If a person realizes that they are suffering from an addiction when they have children, the best thing that they can do to protect their children from the harm of this addiction is to go to rehab. If the addiction is caught and handled early enough during the childhood of an addict’s kids, there is a good chance that the children can grow up to lead normal and happy lives. Trying to cover up one’s addiction does not really help at all. The best thing to do is to humbly accept the fact that one needs help with their addiction, explain this to their children and perhaps even apologize to them. This will do a lot for the healing process of the child which can prevent overwhelming and negative feelings of resentment later in the future.
If you or someone you know is suffering from an addiction, please seek help right away.
About the Author
Stacy Freeman is a contributing freelance writer who is passionate about helping young children understand the dangers of drugs at an early age. She often uses Narconon rehab to find updates in what is trending in the drug prevention world.
