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Alcohol Dependency Family Counselling - Cooks Hill

Alcohol Dependency – How the Entire Family is Affected

Alcoholism disrupts every aspect of a drinker’s life, including their work, social and family life. Although people who abuse alcohol often rationalise that they aren’t hurting anyone but themselves, in fact alcohol addiction greatly impacts the whole family. 

Alcohol dependency makes drinking the priority in the drinker’s life. Because of this, families are torn apart through financial or legal troubles or family violence problems. The alcohol dependent parent’s addiction directly affects their children’s physical and mental well-being. Normal roles are often distorted and children’s basic needs can become neglected. 
What are the consequences of alcohol dependency on the family?
Alcohol abuse takes it's toll on all members of the family surrounding the drinker. The effects of alcohol abuse are not only limited to the people directly related to the drinker, but many others can also feel the reach. Everyone in the family are often living in a state of stress, which can be a risk factor for many psychological and physical negative effects for them as well.Problems such as:

Physical and Health Effects
Serious alcohol dependency over time leads to major health repercussions for the drinker. Problems such as cirrhosis of the liver and heart disease, to name a few. When they become ill, it is a strain on the family to deal with their illness. 

The Emotional Impacts of Alcohol Dependency
For families living with an alcohol dependent person, life can feel out of control, unpredictable and scary. Family members feel powerless and often spend a lot of time worrying about the addicted family member. Some family members have been known to become enablers, buying alcohol on the drinker’s behalf or rationalising their behaviour to others.

Children can feel guilty, and wrongly believe that they are to blame somehow. some have been known to act out, become depressed and anxious and withdraw.
Spouses have reported feeling abandoned, as if they are not in a real relationship anymore. Spouses often feel that their needs are not met. There can be increased conflict between spouses, and families can break down.
Alcohol Dependency and how it affects the entire family
Anger Issues
On the part of the alcohol dependent person, fits of anger and rage are often common. Sufferers have been known to act erratic and moody. Family members often “walk on eggshells” in order to avoid bringing out the darker side of their addict. 
When addicts discover that this dynamic gives them a kind of power, sometimes they can abuse that and become very manipulative. Therapists call this “emotional hostage taking”.

Financial impacts
Alcohol is expensive, but it’s not just the direct spend on alcohol. There is often reckless spending by the drinker while under the influence, with their judgment impaired (for example, buying rounds at the bar). Credit card bills can be racked up, and large debts are an unwanted result of this lifestyle.
Drinking can also affect the person’s employment, which can lead to financial problems. Jobs are lost due to unpredictable or unreliable behaviour, absenteeism, or the inability to efficiently fulfil their duties. 

Sometimes there are costly legal proceedings to undergo, thanks to drink driving charges or getting into fights while under the influence. 
These financial impacts inevitably affect the drinker’s whole family, sometimes also placing a great deal of stress on the non-drinking spouse to keep the family afloat.

Other Ways Alcohol Dependency Can Affects Families
Children observing the drinker’s lifestyle can get the message that to cope with life, they need to turn to alcohol or other drugs. Of course, it’s not coping at all. But this can be the way addiction may be being modelled to some children.
Children grow up without a true parent, the spouse doesn’t have a true partner, and the whole family find themselves in a situation where the addiction has isolated them.
Alcohol dependency can affect the entire family
How Talking it Over Can Help

Alcohol abuse disrupts routines like mealtimes and bedtimes which children need for healthy development. Counselling can help kids and families heal and recover
and the good news is recovery is possible through therapy and other kinds of treatment. For this to begin usually at least one person in the situation to acknowledge that there is an alcohol problem in the family. Your child can see a child psychologist or a psychiatrist, one-on-one or a group setting with similar other kids.
Ideally, when an alcoholic parent seeks treatment, they should try to find a centre which offers a broad spectrum of services including family therapy. The entire family may need to speak to a counsellor as there may be psychological damage which should be investigated. Sometimes, just having somebody to talk to can make a big difference.

Children and family of people suffering from alcohol dependency can also access help from independent recovery groups such as Alateen and Al-Anon. Treatment aims to help kids cope with the alcohol abuse and also help them avoid become alcohol-dependent themselves down the track. 

For more information see the Alateen website. 

And to get in touch with a counsellor here at Cooks Hill Counselling, please call 0421 598 486 or visit us at 140 Gordon Avenue, Hamilton NSW 2303.

Cooks Hill Counselling for Alcohol Abuse in Newcastle NSW
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