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When someone in the family suffers from a substance use disorder (SUD), the whole family unit is affected. Addiction has a ripple effect, and the associated consequences hurt everyone. How can we better help families restore and heal when faced with this challenge?

There are several key steps that can be taken to help families in need. To start, it’s important for family members to recognize the signs of addiction, and to understand how to support and ultimately, help restore the family unit. From identifying the signs of SUD to providing resources and support, family members can make an enormous difference in the recovery process.

Identify the Signs of Addiction

For many, the first step in getting help is recognizing the signs of addiction. Unfortunately, spotting the signs of SUD isn’t always simple. The signs of addiction depend on the substance and the individual; an individual’s behavior, physical appearance, attitude, and mood can all be affected, such as:

• Changes in physical and mental health

• Social withdrawal

• Changes in appearance
• Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed
• Decline in school or work performance
• Increased secrecy

The effects of an addiction can be hard to ignore, but by paying close attention to changes in behavior, family members can spot the signs and get the help needed.

Provide Support and Resources

Once family members are aware of the addiction, they can provide support to the individual. While this may seem difficult, it’s essential to remember that these individuals are still loved ones and need the family’s help to get through this difficult period.

Beyond offering emotional support, family members can provide the individual with resources that can help them in recovery. This could include finding a mental health professional or therapist, joining a support group, taking advantage of addiction treatment programs, or providing access to any other treatment resources and options that may be available.

Connecting individuals with the right resources is an essential first step to help restore the family, and a counselor or other professional can provide personalized advice and guidance.

Educate Yourself and Others

Families should also strive to educate themselves about addiction, substance use disorders, and the recovery process. Understanding the basics of addiction can help families comprehend the situation and better learn ways to handle and resolve conflicts.

Educating others, including family and friends, is also important. Addiction comes with a stigma, but family members can help others recognize the potential dangers and how to best help the individual.

Seek Professional Help

Sometimes, the effects of addiction extend far beyond the individual. It’s not uncommon for family members to develop their own mental health issues in the throes of an addiction, such as depression or anxiety. In these cases, it’s important to seek additional support for the family as a whole.

Family counseling can help families learn how to reconnect with one another, understand their unique dynamics, and learn healthy coping strategies and better communication skills. Family counseling can also provide family members with the tools and support needed to restore the family.

The Takeaway

Addiction affects the entire family unit. If someone in the family is suffering from substance use disorder, it’s important to recognize the signs, provide support to the individual, educate yourself and others, and seek professional help. By taking these steps, families can ensure that everyone is getting the help and support needed to restore the family and begin the healing process.

There is nothing easy or straightforward about addiction, especially when it impacts your family dynamics. Addiction is a hard road that leaves emotional destruction in its wake and the restorative process of rebuilding relationships and finding emotional restoration can be challenging and long.

Addiction can negatively strain relationships between friends, partners, and family members, leaving feelings of betrayal, fear, anger and mistrust in its aftermath. The impact addiction has on a family can be devastating, and as a result, healing the emotional wounds requires patience and effort from all parties involved.

The below steps can help individuals and families restore family dynamics after addiction:

1. Foster Open Communication and Honest Discussions

The first step in restoring family dynamics is enabling each member of the family to open up and communicate honestly. In doing so, family members can heal the wounds caused by addiction and build a stronger bond of trust.

Family members should be encouraged to share their feelings or experiences related to the impact of addiction, as well as express any frustrations, opinions, or goals for the family. This discussion should remain focused on the present and take a positive approach in discussing ways to fix the damage caused by addiction instead of placing blame on the person with the addiction.

2. Take a Mindful Approach and Prioritize Self-Care

It’s important for both those with the addiction and without to take action and approach the situation with an open mind, free of judgment. Understanding that addiction is a disease and can be difficult to navigate can help individuals develop understanding and empathy. This is especially important for those living with someone in recovery, as they must come to terms with whatever losses have occurred and how this addition has impacted their lives.

It is essential for both individuals and families affected by addiction to have access to a trusted support system. Those in recovery should focus on self-care be it going for counseling, mindfulness practice, or developing a hobby or interest that allows them to process the feelings they are experiencing.

3. Practice Forgiveness

A key factor in healing relationships is practicing forgiveness. While it can be hard to let go of anger and resentment, forgiving will help individuals in the family move forward and free them from the pain and hurt that resided in the past. This is not to say that past actions or experiences should be forgotten, rather to change the associated feelings and associations to the event.

Family members should never forget the past but rather recognize it, process it, forgive the experience and the person if desired and use the experience as a source of strength and knowledge of how to work through struggles in the future.

4. Exchange Love and Support

When it comes to healing your family dynamics after addiction, love and support go a long way. Family members should practice showing their love and emotional support to one another, whether through acts of kindness or even a simple hug. Doing so will help individuals feel appreciated and valued.

Moreover, as a family unit, it is important for all members to recognize each other’s needs and limitations. Being understanding and trying to make changes that can benefit the relationship is essential for restoring family dynamics.

5. Learn to Accept and Manage Stress in Healthy Ways

Stress is unavoidable, especially when making the changes necessary to restore family dynamics. Those in recovery in particular are prone to feeling overwhelmed or stressed, increasing the risk of relapse.

To avoid these feelings, individuals should practice healthy coping mechanisms such as practicing meditation, exercising, journaling, or talking to a therapist when needed to help manage their stress in a positive way. Family members can also help one another manage stress by engaging in activities, listening, and providing understanding.

Conclusion

Restoring family dynamics after addiction is a long and difficult process but it is possible. With patience, love, support, and communication, family members can rediscover trust and rebuild relationships. Keeping in mind that progress will not always be linear can help individuals navigate the process while staying focused on positive steps that can strengthen the family-wide bond.

Addiction is often seen passed down through the blood line…

It starts with the grandparents, then trickles down to your parents, then suddenly you find yourself at risk of becoming an addict.

But, is that really a thing or did your family just find themselves that unlucky that addiction has continued to affect everyone for generations?

While there are some outside contributions to addiction – and ultimately it is still your choice – addiction can run in the family.

There are two reasons that addiction runs in the family:

1. Some people carry a predisposition in their genes for addiction, just making them overall more susceptible to addiction. Then, this predisposition can be passed down into the next generation.
2. From a young age, the next generation sees the alcoholism or substance abuse and assumes it is okay. If addiction is the “family norm”, then it can be easily mistaken by a younger generation that an addicted lifestyle is just how people live. Furthermore, they will adopt that lifestyle and then the cycle repeats itself.

However, unlike cancer and other diseases and illnesses, there is no way to test to see if someone will become an addict – whether it is of drugs or alcohol.

The good news is that it is not guaranteed that all children who come from homes of addicted parents will become an addict themselves. However, they are at a much higher risk.

So, think about it…

Are you putting your family at risk? Could you actually be putting the next few generations of your family at risk?

A Yale University professor found that habits are contagious…

If you eat healthy, your children will want to eat healthy.

If you are overweight, your children are more likely to be overweight.

If you value education and learning, your children most likely will, too.

Children are always watching and they are always picking up on what you do – big and small. So, by displaying an addiction, they are noticing it – even if they don’t say anything, it does not go unnoticed.

Consider what you are doing…would you want your child to grow up and be the same way?

Addiction is already tempting enough – social drinking can turn into an alcohol addiction, trying marijuana can lead to experimenting with other drugs…

In a world where drugs and alcohol are easily accessible, your children and family do not need any other things increasing their susceptibility to an addiction – the risks are already high enough.

Do you have a drug or alcohol addiction?

Do you also have a spouse? Some kids? Maybe even some grandkids?

Then, you are causing them all to suffer…

Addiction is not a victimless crime – and it especially takes a toll on those who are closest to you and those who live with you day in and day out.

But, just what kind of impact is addiction having on your family?

You might not notice it right away, especially because you are on the addiction side of things. It can be easy, and natural, to simply ignore what type of effects the addiction is actually having on those around you…

However, addiction is a disease that can infect and hurt an entire family…not just the addict themselves.

An addiction can easily cause lack of communication, miscommunication, tension, and more frequent arguments within the family – whether it is over something involving the addiction or just over a misunderstanding as a result of a short-tempered addict.

As a result of the lack of or errors in communication, the stress levels are raised and it puts those around the addict in a tense and unhealthy environment.

Because the addict themselves is very unpredictable, they can cause added stress, emotional pain, and anxiety within the family. In addition, they can also cause people to lose a lot of their trust in them, making it hard to trust them with even the simplest of tasks.

Furthermore, addiction can affect the family on a financial level. Job instability can lead to financial stress which can lead to having to cut certain things out of their life and additional stress.

But, is it really fair for your children or your spouse to have to do without just because you are supporting your drug or alcohol addiction?

No.

As a result of all these negative effects that addiction has on the family, several – if not all – family ties can be damaged or severed. Family members might have to distance themselves for their own well-being, whether it is just for a short time or maybe even forever…

The effects of addiction on families is huge – it effects children, spouse, and even family outside of the immediate family.

Let us help you today – not just for you but also for your family. They deserve it. A residential addiction rehabilitation centers can provide the help and solutions needed to see restoration in the Family.

It seems to be obvious that substance abuse and marriage don’t mix…

However, many couple still find themselves in the midst of it. They have a husband who just can’t put the bottle down or a wife who takes just one pill too many.

But many people might argue that the spouse of an addict is actually the one who suffers the most…

What are the costs of a marriage filled with addiction?

Oftentimes, a couple in which one partner is addicted to something leaves the other partner feeling very unhappy – more unhappy than other couples who aren’t suffering from the problems of addiction.

The addiction can cause a great deal of stress which can also lead to more frequent fighting and a distance being created between the two partners…

Couples in an addicted relationship often find themselves just on a downward spiral.

The drugs or alcohol can lead to arguments over it – when will it stop? It can leave the other partner feeling as though it is because of something they did, leaving them questioning their role in the marriage.

Furthermore, it can leave them arguing over who will pick up responsibilities. An addict typically will abandon some if not all of their responsibilities – they will get home late, forget, or just purposely avoid them altogether. As a result, this can leave all the wait of the household on one person’s shoulders – the spouse who isn’t suffering from addiction. Therefore, it can cause them to have to pick up the slack which can be extremely tiring.

Addiction can also lead to domestic abuse within a relationship, or it could be mental abuse. Either way – abuse is never okay. The anger, sadness, and fear that addiction brings could promote the negative behavior of that partner, leaving the other one emotionally or physically wounded.

Overall, addiction can completely change a person. It can leave your spouse feeling as though they have no idea who it is that they are even married to anymore…

It can be an incredibly depressing feeling as they watch the kind person they once knew and loved fade away…

If you are struggling with addiction, consider the effect it is having on your spouse. It could be driving a wedge right between the two of you that could eventually be detrimental to your marriage.

Let us help restore your marriage to what it once was by helping you get clean from your addiction.

Do you think that just because you put the alcohol in an unmarked glass you are hiding it from your children?

Sadly, the mindset of most addicts is that they are being sneaky…

They assume as long as they drink from a discrete bottle nobody will smell the alcohol on their breath, see them hiding the bottle, or notice a change in their demeanor…

But, this is far from true.

Even from a young age children can pick up on habits such as alcohol and drug addiction and can already begin to understand the effects that it has on them and their entire family.

Raising children and supporting a family is already hard enough without the added stress of addiction. Not only are you in charge of raising your children but you are also setting the example for them…

Studies show that children quickly pick up on habits – and your addiction is no different. It is also seen that children who grow up in homes with an addicted parent are more likely to become addicts themselves.

In addition to the risk to their future that you are creating, addiction could also start slacking on your parenting skills…

As you are engaging in your addiction, you suddenly start to become more disconnected from them. You can start missing important events in their lives, not being there when they need you, and failing to discipline people when it is necessary.

All kids need a stable mentor in their life, and by being addicted to drugs or alcohol, you can’t be that person.

Your addiction can leave your child feeling confused, sad, and alone.

They might feel as though you aren’t around as much – and even when you are you are not completely there.

Furthermore, children who are raised in homes of addicts have an increase in academic problems and criminal behavior – in addition to the increased risk of use that we already mentioned.

So, is your addiction really worth damaging your child? Is it really worth losing that valuable time with them that means so much?

While they are young, you should be there molding them and shaping them…

Don’t let drugs and alcohol let you lose site of the importance of your job as a parent.

Let our recovery program restore your life today so that you can be there for your family and your children. They will thank you.

Have you been struggling with addiction for some time now?

Have you decided it is finally time to make a change and overcome the struggles?

Have you decided that your family is worth getting clean?

If you answered yes, then great! We are here to help.

Not only is family an important part of your “why” for going into a recovery program, but it is also important that you understand that they are an important “how” in your recovery process…

As they have been drug on long enough, they will probably be ecstatic that you have chosen recovery.

It really is like recovery for the whole family – they can finally stop being upset and hurt over your negative choices and actions, the family is on its way to being restored, and they will finally get their old spouse and parent back…

All in all, it is a big step toward a very positive change for a family when the addicted parent chooses to go to recovery.

So, before you decide to just shut your family out with the intentions of just coming back a clean man or woman at the end, consider their importance in this process…

Family should be involved in the addiction recovery process because:

1. They need to understand it won’t fix it all.There is still much work that will need to be done to repair the family – while treatment will fix the main issue, other things will still need to continue to be worked on post-addiction recovery treatment.Addiction is a chronic disease and recovery is a long and tedious process that few truly understand.
2. They will offer you love and support.Despite knowing that recovery is not just a magic wand that can be waved to fix it all, they still love and support you through it. Family is family and they can offer you an accountability partner and a shoulder to cry on should you need it.
   Especially as they are eager to see you as a new person, they will be there to cheer you on and encourage your success.
3. They will continue to help you once your treatment plan is over.Recovery centers can offer family tips and ideas for continuous improvement and how to help you avoid relapsing – which is incredibly common in previous addicts.By having your family with you throughout the process, they can learn right along with you. Therefore, they can continue to offer you encouragement and support even after the recovery treatment process is over.

How Family Plays an Important Role in Addiction Recovery When it comes time for recovery, consider how important your family is to you. Especially if they have continuously stuck by your side. Let them be involved in the recovery process too, they need to heal as well. If you live in Eastern Canada consider a drug rehab Ottawa to help you or your Loved one overcome addiction.