Addiction is known to cause several problems within your own life, but what you may not realize during active addiction is how it has affected the ones you love. Now that you are in recovery and working on yourself, it is also essential to recognize how your addiction has impacted those closest to you, including friends, family, spouses, and children.
Addiction’s Effects on Children
Addiction can be detrimental to a child’s future. They may learn unhealthy coping mechanisms from their parents. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, they are also at risk of potential abuse and neglect from their parents. Children living with a parent struggling with addiction may face unprecedented challenges as they grow up, such as poverty, domestic violence, and mental illness. This can cause children to act out later in life and increases the chances of developing an addiction in their adult lives.
Addiction’s Effects on Spouses
Those married to an individual struggling with addiction may be at risk for several problems. These can range from financial issues, broken trust, increased stress, abuse, and infidelity. Addiction often turns people into people they no longer recognize, acting out in ways they would never have before. Over time, this can disintegrate the relationships with no hope of return.
Addiction’s Effects on Parents
Parents that have a child struggling with addiction often feel a combination of feelings, including anger, guilt, frustration, shock, and sadness. They may blame themselves for what their child is going through, feeling even more responsibility for not knowing how to help them. Some parents may live in a world of denial, causing them to enable their child to continue using. This can be extremely damaging and make the situation worse, often deteriorating the relationship with their child over time.
Addiction’s Effects on Friends
As you begin hanging out more with people who use drugs and alcohol, your long-term friends who do not use may feel alienated from the person they once knew. They may begin to feel distrustful of you as you lie to them or cancel plans last minute. They may also choose to no longer be around you due to your bad influences.
Addiction is a selfish disease that only cares about itself. It hurts you and the ones you love with no regard for anything else. In recovery, you begin learning how to cope with the trials life throws your way and how to start loving yourself. However, you must also come to terms with how you hurt others during your struggles. This is not to say that the damage done cannot be reversed. You may be able to mend relationships through counseling, making amends, and showing your loved ones that you are serious about your sobriety. At Alta Loma Transformational Services, we work with young men to develop their relationship with themselves and the ones they hold dearest. Over time, we believe relationships can be rebuilt on a foundation of honesty, trust, and genuine love. If you are struggling with damaged relationships due to your addiction, call us today at (866) 457-3843.
