Families are Affected by Drug Abuse – with Dan Murphy
The actions of a drug addict can be damaging to your entire family. Listen to Dan Murphy as he shares how families are affect by drug abuse.
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For many years drug and alcohol addiction has been referred to as a family illness. The reason that is, is because the family’s affected first and the hardest negatively; because of the selfishness of the addict. The family has a tendency to rally together to help support the addict, to help them stop drinking and using, but it doesn’t exactly work that way.The family becomes ill; covering for the addict, bailing them out and enabling them to continue despite their own understanding of it all.
I had a call from a woman today who was looking for a place to put her son for help with his substance dependence problem. I asked her how old he was and she said, “he’s 52.” So here’s a mom still trying to help her 52 year old son get help for his problem. This is not a rare call, this happens very often. The family is so embroiled in the nature of the addiction that they become very ill, and can’t really see the forest through the trees. They literally will love them to death.
Families are an integral part of the disease, of addiction and also a powerful part of the recovery from addiction, if they can understand what they have to do. The family gets alienated right out of the gate and the addict victimizes them and everyone else, and then in the end the addict turns around and presents as the victim. Which of course is not true. The addicts says, “well I can’t stop.” Well, I suggest that yes they can stop, they just won’t stop. But the reality is help is available, solutions are there, for not only the addict but for families of the addict. And it takes this unified effort to make some changes.
But the rewards and benefits of the changes are miraculous and boundless and I encourage you to look into that if you struggle with substance abuse problems. I encourage you to look into that if you are a family member watching some you love killing themselves through drugs and alcohol. There is hope and it is available right now.