The Effect of Alcoholism on the Family
Family members of an alcoholic often suffer in silence. While alcoholism may cause obvious health concerns, such as pregnancy complications in expectant mothers, it is also responsible for causing an array of psychological concerns. Even after an alcoholic has recovered from the damaging effects of alcoholism, family members may continue to struggle in their abilities to cope with the problems posed by past alcoholic behavior. In fact, many children of alcoholics will instinctively model the behavior demonstrated by an afflicted parent. Only love and patience can reverse the damage caused to a family by the misguided behavior of an alcoholic.
Other People Are Reading
-
Low Esteem
-
Alcoholism is a disease that pressures a person to routinely prioritize his own desires over the desires and needs of his fellow family members. As a result, these family members begin to feel devalued. Children of alcoholics tend to express symptoms of low self-esteem, even if they are usually extroverted in nature. In fact, some family members may attempt to mask feelings of inadequacy by competing to achieve recognition in a classroom or workplace or at a local organization.
Resentment
-
Nonalcoholic family members often feel resentment toward an alcoholic member. At first, they may try to enable the alcoholic, in hopes of assisting in his recovery. For example, if he wakes up late for work due to a hangover, they may scurry to help him get ready by turning on the water for his shower or by ironing his clothes. Ultimately, such enabling behavior achieves few lasting results. Consequently, family members are prone to feel a righteous degree of resentment toward the alcoholic member. Nothing that they do seems to produce a change in his behavior. Such resentment may last for many years, and in certain cases it is never resolved or dissipated.
-
Distrustfulness
-
Family members who live with an alcoholic commonly use distrustfulness as a protective device. Unsure of how to share their family's problems with others, they often avoid making acquaintances. These family members may also feel betrayed by the alcoholic person with whom they live. Children and teens are especially prone to feel skeptical of outsiders once a parent has fallen prey to the disease of alcoholism. Unable to observe healthy demonstrations of trust within their own household, children of alcoholics may feel timid about engaging in the act of trusting others.
Impulsiveness
-
Alcoholism produces impulsive behavior in its sufferers. Similarly, family members of an alcoholic tend to mirror such impulsive behavior. For example, if an alcoholic parent impulsively chooses to buy a bottle of wine on a trip to the grocery store, her children may feel entitled to suggest impulse buys of their own. To mask her own sense of guilt for purchasing the wine, she is likely to allow to children to throw their own items into the grocery basket. Consequently, she rewards their impulsive behavior by purchasing the treats that they have chosen.
Imitation
-
Nonalcoholic family members who observe the behavior of an alcoholic family member are often prone to imitate this behavior. When alcohol purchased by an adult is already in a home, teens do not need to worry about trying to buy it with a fake ID. Furthermore, they may be induced to believe that drinking liquor is a healthy way to handle stress. Even if a teen does not drink alcohol, he may grow to imitate the compulsive behavior patterns typical of an alcoholic family member. For example, he may exhibit signs of an eating disorder or may try to reduce the stress he feels by employing a range of obsessive compulsive behaviors.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit "Greetings from Christmas 1976", by freeparking
