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Alcoholism and the Family: Get the Information, Encouragement and Support You Need to Deal with the Problem of Addiction in Families

The Effects of Alcoholism on the Family Dynamic Can Be Devastating

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Alcoholism and the family - a problem I know a lot about because my mother was an alcoholic for a large number of my childhood and early adult years.

The earliest memories I have of the effects her alcoholism had on the family was when I was 3 or 4 and I'd go lie in my older sister's room with her because you could hear my parents shouting and screaming at each other in the kitchen because of my Mom's drinking.

And so alcoholism in the family was something I just got used to from a very young age.

Soon I could tell immediately when she'd had a drink. She didn't even need to be drunk yet. Just one drink, and I knew. There would be this look on her face that I immediately recognised.

My heart would sink because I knew what lay in store even though she never got abusive or behaved horribly when she was drunk ...

She'd either go lock herself in her room where she'd eventually pass out. Or I'd sit and listen to her and let her unload about how difficult her life had been, how she never really felt appreciated in her relationship with my Dad, or whatever else the reason for the day was ... and I'd feel sorry, helpless, and I guess also guilty because I never really knew what to do.

Eventually it just became 'normal.'

After her binge of what would usually last a few days - she'd manage to get herself 'together' again for a while, until the next binge, when the cycle would start again.

Then occassionally her binge would be so bad, that she'd end up in hospital. That would scare her sufficiently to make the usual promises that that this was the last and that she'd never touch a drink again. And then she'd stay sober for longer than usual.

Initially I was naieve and stupid enough to believe her promises ...

Soon I wisened up, and knew her sobriety would be short-lived and that before long it was inevitable that she'd hit the bottle again.

drug addiction and the family Once I left home it became easier to deal with because I could just ignore the problem and wouldn't have to deal with it on a daily basis anymore.

But I always thought that there must be something one can do - but I suppose that after a while you become indifferent and almost stop caring because it hurts too much when you do.

Only once I went through Rehab for my own addictions (children of alcoholics are 4x more likely to develop an addiction themselves), did I understand enough about alcoholism and addiction to realise that we as a family were actually enabling her behaviour.

And so after another one of her episodes where she landed up in hospital, I realised it was time to get tough and that's when me and my sister performed an intervention on her, which led to her going to Rehab for the first time - and I'm grateful to say that she's been sober ever since, which is going on 8 years now.

Articles On Alcoholism and the Family

So this section is all about Alcoholism in the Family - and helping you understand your role in all of this as well as what you need to do to help a loved one or family member who has a drinking problem.

So we'll start by looking at Codependency and what that means and the impact you have on the addict in your life by being codependent.

Then we'll move onto discussing an Alcoholism Intervention - and how doing this properly can get a loved one the help they need.

Alcoholism Effects on the Family talks about how the family is directly impacted by the alcoholic and offers suggestions on how you as a family can deal with the problem.

We often forget about the Effects of Alcoholism on Children. Children are however usually the biggest losers when it comes to addiction, so if nothing else you might to be making changes for them.

Alcoholism and Marriage usually destroys relationships so here I'll be talking to you about what you can do if your spouse is an alcoholic and what your options are.

Living With An Alcoholic is a reality for many - but what do you do? How do you deal with the situation? Hopefully this article will prove to be enlightening.

Alcoholism Signs for the Family just gives you a few pointers as to the kinds of things to look out for if you suspect alcoholism in a family member.

Heard of Dry Drunk Syndrome? This is where the alcoholic or drug addict stop drinking or using - without actually getting any better. It's something that could very well be effecting you.

Women and Alcoholism is a massively underrated problem. Here you'll discover the dangers especially women are exposed to and what can be done about this escalating problem.