Children Of Alcoholics Growing Into Adulthood

(NIH, ‘‘Children of Alcoholics: How Are Children Impacted?’’). From personal experience, it can cause trusting issues, more sensitivity to the subject of drinking (or not), and social

Another considerable factor of this problem is the influence these substances have on children. Alcoholism in the home is an extremely hard issue to cope with as a child. Domestic violence, which is often worsened by alcohol abuse, causes a lot of mental issues that affect children permanently. Many kids do not have a stable home and are forced to see their parents and loved ones struggle with drinking (Hopkins 7). Suffering through the effects of drugs and alcohol also make education a challenge. Children often times stay home from school or are inattentive during class due to lack of sleep from late-night parties or rowdiness at home.This makes it almost impossible to succeed later in life and lets the problem continue onto the next generation.

Children of Alcoholics (COAs) refer to children living in families where a parent abuse alcohol, dependence, and addiction is present. COAs have different life experience than children in non alcoholic families. Which contribute to the fact that living with an alcoholic can cause stress for members in the family Statistics show that eighteen percent

An alcoholic parent can affect what a child thinks is morally acceptable because, they are more tolerant of misbehavior, and often are not very moral people themselves. Alcoholic parents may not often be present or in a stable state of mind, allowing their children to partake in the activities they choose, which are often bad for them. The parents are not conscientious enough to put down the actions, making the child think they are acceptable. Children of alcoholics are more likely to steal and be violent, use drugs and or alcohol, and be engaged in activities that are potentially dangerous ("Children Of Alcoholics | American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry"). They are being raised in an environment where they see this happening, and then imitate it, because that is how they think a person is allowed to act. Some children are just copying what they see their parents do. Alcohol may be the parents’ way to deal with the pressures of daily life, and children observe the use of alcohol as a coping mechanism, making

Most would assume that the biggest problems incurred by an alcoholic would be on themselves, but I would argue that it is on the relationships that they have with their peers. Someone who may appear as a fully functioning individual may be extremely dangerous, dishonest, and destructive while under the influence. This scenario occurs in “The Glass Castle” with Rex Walls. The Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health defines alcoholism as “a chronic physical, psychological, and behavioral disorder characterized by the excessive, compulsive, and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol”. According to Klean Treatment Centers, there are three ways alcoholism affects the whole family: emotional hostages, stress,

Guilt: Children may feel they are responsible for the drinking, 2. Anxiety: Children may worry constantly about the home situation, 3. Embarrassment: Children may be ashamed of their home lives and avoid having friends to visit, 4. Unable to have close friendships: Children who have been disappointed, 5. Confusion: An alcoholic parent will switch from a loving to an angry stance quickly, confusing the child. The home schedule is also chaotic with no consistent bedtimes or mealtimes, 6. Anger: Children may be angry at the parent who is drinking and angry at the nonalcoholic parent for not supporting or protecting them, 7. Depression: Children of substance-abusing parents are lonely and feel helpless to change the situation”. These are the problems that children of alcoholic is going to experience of the course of their

Being an adult child of an alcoholic, I have described myself as a third generation depressed, suicidal alcoholic. That is not who I am today. It’s more a diagnosis, or a description of my lineage.

likely to becomes unpredictable. For example, the drinker may become easily agitated and abusive. Another area of family functioning which is often affected by alcohol misuse relates to the kind of communications that takes place between family members.

Children with alcoholic parents suffer all kinds of abuse and it is often life threatening (20). Addiction is not something that begins and ends with one person, the impact addiction has is tremendous and devastating. "Addiction sends shock waves through an entire family unit" (Straussner 1). Over 27 million children live with an alcoholic parent. It is nearly impossible to find children from alcoholic homes who are completely unscathed (The Visitation Handbook for the Custodial Parent 167). Children who grow up with alcoholic parents are forced to mature and grow up much sooner than they ought. Over 22 million adults have come out and said they have lived with an alcohol parent when they were a child (Seixas and Youcha xi). Alcohol continues to be predominant in The United States, because it is a drug that works for the majority of people. Alcohol allows a person to temporarily escape from the problems they are suffering. Most people reap the consequences of previous actions daily and therefore turn to alcohol which allows them to temporarily escape reality. Alcohol may allow people to escape their reality for a time being, but it also creates a horrific reality for 27 million

The first question that needs to be answered is that if the alcoholism is as bad as it sounds and if these problems caused by alcoholism have an effect on the children of alcoholics. The easy answer is yes, it has a negative effect on the children, but not many people can talk about what negative effects growing with alcoholic parents may cause. The problems

Growing up with an alcoholic parent or parents can be a very difficult thing and mentally tiring. Day to day activities can be more of a challenge and feel like an impossible struggle due to constant worry, doubt or fear. They may grow up without proper care, love or encouragement to learn and succeed. A few of the things that can interfere with the child with an alcoholic parent includes school life, social interactions and at home. A child who is forced to grow up from birth around alcoholism has a higher chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves.

In this context, we will use binge drinking to describe the abuse of alcohol. Wechsler and Nelson (2001) defines binge drinking as for drinking 5 or more alcoholic drinks at one time in the span of half a month for men and 4 or more drinks for women in that same time frame.

It is estimated that the number of adults, in the United States, who abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent is approximates 17.6 million, or 8.46 percent of adults (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015). These statistics present a primary health concern (Hart & Kisr, 2013). Still yet, an additional concern is warranted because of the family influences on the development of problems with alcohol and the risk for family members developing alcoholism—and other mental or behavioral issues (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2005). Evidence points to problems with alcohol that are associated with various family factors, such as spousal and parental use, use by children, family principles and attitudes about alcohol consumption, dynamics of family and patterns of relationship, and interplay of alcohol with biological and genetic factors (NIAAA, 2005).

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seventy six million Americans have been exposed to alcoholism in the family. That means one out of four families is affected by an alcoholic, making alcoholism responsible for more family problems than any other single cause (Parsons). Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the individual, but also everyone around the alcoholic. Alcoholics can make irrational decisions that are harmful not only to themselves but also to the people around them. These irrational decisions can cause financial instability for the household which, in turn, contributes to neglect.

A study by Wolin and associates determined that children who originated from alcoholic families were not able to function in terms of behavior and emotion as successfully as those who originated from non alcoholic families. In the study, children of alcoholics scored notably lower when researchers looked at their behavioral and emotional