IS YOUR FAMILY IN CRISIS OVER A LOVED ONE’S ADDICTION?

If a family member is struggling with substance abuse, you may already be feeling the impact on yourself and the lives of those you love. Addiction can take a terrible toll on all areas of life, from intimate relationships to parenting, school, career, and friendships.

For the person who is dependent on drugs or alcohol, addiction can be a terrifying, confusing, self-destructive state of being. Even when the problem is acknowledged and the addict sincerely wants to stop, lasting sobriety may be elusive.

Are you at a loss for what to do?

Families often face shame, embarrassment and a sense of powerlessness around their loved one’s struggle with drug or alcohol dependency. They are at a loss as to what they can do to facilitate that person’s recovery. Family members may watch helplessly or ask “Who are you? I don’t recognize you anymore” as their loved one changes before their eyes into a person who accumulates debt, steals, lies, and denies that there is a problem. Many family members suffer verbal, emotional, financial and even physical abuse at the hands of the addicted person.

Then the person promises to change, and just as you are feeling hopeful, the vicious cycle begins all over again.

If this sounds familiar, you may be fearful about discussing the issue openly with the addict, or even with other family members and friends. In this fog of silence and fear, many family members become reluctant enablers and are unwillingly caught in a codependent trap, keeping secrets and telling lies, dropping their boundaries, and losing hope that things will get better.