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[For those seeking help with a substance use problem, Dial Help, located in Houghton, can be reached at (906) 482-9077, for free, confidential assistance, or visit https://dialhelp.org/resources for resources for support.]
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, providing an opportunity for people to update their knowledge about alcohol use disorder (SUD), and their impacts on health and society, states a an April 11 release from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
People in long-term aftercare, such as a 12-step program, are well aware that SUD does not only affect the individual; it is referred to as a family disease.
Genesis Recovery, of San Diego, points out that:
"The National Council On Alcoholism And Drug Dependence defines addiction as 'a family disease that stresses the family to the breaking point, impacts the stability of the home, the family's unity, mental health, physical health, finances, and overall family dynamics."
This includes children who grow up in a home in which one or both parents suffer with SUD.
"When a child has an alcoholic parent, they have to traverse the emotional web of addiction without even realizing it," states the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
"They see the neglect and abuse, even if they can't name them. They feel a parent's absence or inconsistency, and often blame themselves--children believe they're somehow responsible for their dysfunctional family, and they internalize the chaos around them and hope to keep everything afloat."
Children who learn to navigate such a dysfunctional family often become dysfunctional in their adulthood. They become adult children of Alcoholics.
The article, Common Traits of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACoA) states that when a child spends their developmental years with caregivers who misuse alcohol, this experience can negatively impact their life well into adulthood.
Many of the personality traits of Adult Children of Alcoholics (often known as ACA or ACoA) can be traced back to traumatic and dysfunctional experiences that occurred during these crucial years. Unfortunately, many people do not recognize the effects of this dysfunction until adulthood. This includes the effects of emotional neglect experienced as a child.
Psych Central, in its online article, The Link Between Childhood Emotional Neglect and Codependency, stated CEN is the result of the child's parents inability to validate and respond adequately to the child's emotional needs.
Childhood emotional neglect can be hard to identify because it is what did not happen in your childhood, the article says. It does not leave any visible bruises or scars, but its hurtful and confusing for children.
But many people who experienced CEN grew up in families without obvious dysfunction, the article continues. They were not beaten or belittled.
"Their parents were well-meaning but lacked the emotional skills themselves to notice and tend to their children's feelings. Such parents never learned to cope with their feelings or express them in healthy ways and dont know how to deal with their children's feelings either."
Studies show that children affected by parental drinking may develop serious problems in adulthood, reports psychcentral.com. These can include:
• Mental and emotional health -- A 2018 review found that children who grow up with a parent who misuses alcohol are significantly more likely to have mental or emotional challenges such as depression and anxiety.
• Attachment issues -- A 2016 review suggests that children of parents with alcohol use disorder may exhibit attachment problems, such as separation anxiety or clinging to their parents.
• Behavioral -- Children with parents who have alcohol use disorder may have a higher rate of behavioral difficulties and conduct problems, according to a 2017 review.
• Substance use -- A 2016 review found that children -- especially adolescents -- with parents with alcohol use disorder are also more likely to develop substance use disorders themselves, especially problems with alcohol.
According to the American Addiction Centers, there are 10 common characteristics that ACoA share. The next article of this series will examine a brief overview of those characteristics.
• For more information on Addiction as a Family Disease, visit the Genesis Recovery site at: https://www.genesisrecovery.com/addiction-as-a-family-disease/
• To read more about what it means to be an adult child of an alcoholic, please visit the following websites:
– Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/articles/adult-children-of-alcoholics
• Psych Central: Alcohol Use in Families: Impact on Adult Children: https://psychcentral.com/addictions/children-of-alcoholics
• Psych Central: The Link Between Childhood Emotional Neglect and Codepency: https://psychcentral.com/blog/imperfect/2017/12/the-link-between-childhood-emotional-neglect-and-codependency
• To explore common personality traits of Adult Children of Alcoholics, please visit the American Addiction Centers website at: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/blog/10-traits-of-adult-children-of-alcoholics