Addiction affects the whole family
Addiction affects not only the individual, but the entire family and circle of friends. When the disease is treated, the family must also be helped.
Addiction affects the whole family
Addiction affects not only the individual, but the entire family and circle of friends. When the disease is treated, the family must also be helped. But people are often unaware that there is also help for the families - while the family is crucial in the patient's recovery process. Our message is simple: seek (professional) help.
Addiction and alcoholism not only affect the addict themselves, but also family and friends. Feelings of shame and guilt, and self-blame, can devour people closest to an addict. Often 'the system' (the name for the people around the addict) deals with these feelings to develop through 'negative mechanisms': those mechanisms can include social isolation, depression and even suicide attempts.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
The journey an addict's family takes
The guilt of family and friends is often described as a cycle of personal guilt (“if only I had tried more this wouldn't have happened… if I had been a better mother… a better woman”) and the blame on the addict himself,
It is even more difficult to break that cycle without professional help. Unaided, this cycle is often a downward spiral, ending in outbursts of anger and empty threats that worsen relationships and only make the situation worse.
But when the family seeks help to deal with addiction properly, in most cases an upward chain reaction occurs, first characterized by awareness and acceptance, then the disease and the story of addiction are better understood.
Family and friends are not responsible for addiction
Awareness is the first step to recovery. Families need to understand that they are not responsible for their loved one's addiction. It is not their fault nor is it behavior they can control. There is no family that can cure the addict of his illness.
Anyone who comes into direct contact with addiction should seek help
Rather than bottle-up, families affected by addiction should seek professional help. From an addiction therapist, one addiction care institution or Al Anon - a good self-help organization for families and relatives dealing with addiction.
Families can become part of the solution
For those who have been driven to the brink of insanity by the behavior of their addicted loved ones, system therapy offer a solution. If a family can get professional help, they can often break the negative cycle, learn positive coping mechanisms and become part of the addiction problem.
Where can you find help?
Al-Anon is "a support group for people affected by someone else's drinking (eg parents, children, spouses, partners, siblings, other family members, friends, employers, employees and colleagues of alcoholics)."
CODA is “a community of men and women, with the common goal of developing healthy relationships. The only requirement for membership is the desire for healthy and loving relationships. ”
http://www.codependents-anonymous.nl/
Family therapy is now offered at many addiction care institutions. Within mental health care it is seen as a crucial part in the recovery process from addiction.