Alcoholism in Households
Journalist Aylah Graves explains what it is like for children to live in a household with alcoholic parents in her informative article.
Living With Alcoholic Parents
By Aylah Graves
The number of children who are living with one or more parents navigating an alcohol addiction or dependency is growing rapidly. As much as this disease affects the adult experiencing it, it also affects the children surrounded by it just as dangerously. It is a family disease, damaging everyone in its path. Growing up in an environment with this kind of addiction present is detrimental to children in several ways.
Addiction is a disease that eventually takes over an individual's thoughts, actions and everyday life. People living with substance abuse addiction feel like they cannot live without it. There are many children who live in this environment and watch as their parents go through it. A national study by researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that 1 in 4 children 17 years old or younger lives with at least one parent who abuses alcohol.
Growing up with an alcoholic parent can cause several mental health issues. An article by Buddy T, Founder of the AA outreach committee states that “common traits of children with alcohol-dependent parents are low self-esteem, fear of authority, isolation, victim complexes, approval-seeking and fear of abandonment.” These traits can be incredibly negative to our mental health. If these children do not get the proper help they need, these issues can create long-lasting problems in the future. These children may have trouble maintaining healthy relationships, carry a much higher risk of becoming an alcoholic, and other long-lasting emotional problems.
Many children deal with these struggles behind the scenes and become isolated. It is important to provide safe spaces so that they can talk about everything they are going through. An anonymous 9th-grade GPHS student has personal insight on growing up in this kind of environment: “As long as I can remember, alcohol has always been the control of both of my parents' lives. It has caused so much destruction and pain in mine and my siblings' lives. I just wish I had someone to talk to about everything so that we could have maybe fixed things before it got so bad. It’s really important to spread awareness about addiction so everyone affected by it can get the help they need.”
Several programs and organizations have started groups for children going through parental addiction. These groups have provided resources and outlets for children to find community and cope healthily with these trying experiences. AlaTeen and ACOA are some programs that have made positive impacts in their lives.
Clearly, this environment shows that there are many negative effects associated with growing up in a household with alcoholic parents. This issue will continually be researched and studied. The long-lasting effects of this issue are important reasons for it to continue to be discussed.
