From moving in with a different relative to joining a club, the less time you spend at home right now, the better. In its advanced stages, alcohol addiction can severely impair one’s functioning in everyday life. Addiction can lead to job loss, financial strain, legal problems, social isolation, and even death due to alcohol-related causes or other health complications.
Alcohol can be used by parents as a way to cope, particularly if they are processing a difficult life event such as a bereavement, unexpected ill health or job loss. Sometimes the parent may struggle with addiction to another drug as well as alcohol. Different substances can cause unpredictable behaviour, and when anticipating a parent’s mood becomes difficult, children are left feeling on edge.
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Parents’ use of alcohol and teens’ lower performance in school have shown an association in research. This could be related in part to the behavior issues among children of parents with an AUD. Growing up with a parent who has an alcohol use disorder can change how an adult child interacts with others.
Get Help for Alcoholism Today
Much like with trauma, how we operated to survive the past situation can become our default of how we respond to the present. At Evolution Wellness in Wilmington, NC, we understand the unique challenges that come with growing up in a household affected by alcoholism. Our experienced therapists specialize in helping adult children of alcoholics heal from the emotional wounds of their past and build healthier, more fulfilling lives. Many children of alcoholics take on the role of “fixer” or “peacemaker” in the family, trying to prevent conflict or make their home environment less chaotic.
Social Challenges:
Children raised in an authoritarian household may experience lower levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy. While they are often well-behaved, children of authoritarian parents tend to have trouble making decisions for themselves. In those harried first months of parenting, I drank a glass or two of wine most days of the week, often starting before the sun went down. In a survey Parents conducted back in 2018, we asked effects of having an alcoholic parent more than 1,600 moms about their alcohol habits, 78% said they drink at least one adult beverage a week. Depression is another prevalent issue, stemming from feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and a chronic sense of sadness about their home life.
The Effects of Having an Alcoholic Parent
There are several resources available to help you cope with the unique challenges of being an adult child of an alcoholic. It offers a safe space to delve into issues related to growing up in a home with an alcoholic parent and to gain much-needed insight into how this has impacted your life. Therapy will teach you how to recognize and control emotions and teach coping skills. Below are some of the effects that parents with alcohol use disorder can have on their children’s ability to form relationships. However, it often doesn’t carry the same stigma or social repulsion that other substances like cocaine or meth carry. Alcohol is widely accepted in society despite the prevalence of alcohol use disorder and dependency.
Children who grow up in a household with alcoholic parents have an increased risk for substance use and PTSD. Our Medical Affairs Team is a dedicated group of medical professionals with diverse and extensive clinical experience who actively contribute to the development of our content, products, and services. They meticulously evaluate and review all medical content before publication to ensure it is medically accurate and aligned with current discussions and research developments in mental health. The adult child of an emotionally or physically unavailable parent can develop a debilitating fear of abandonment and hold on to toxic relationships because they fear being alone.
They may also have a hard time forming healthy relationships with others. Various life challenges—such as relationship conflict or physical illness—can impede a parent’s ability to foster a healthy parent-child relationship. Uninvolved parents may also be living with mental health concerns that cause them to disengage. Additionally, parents who themselves were reared under a neglectful style of parenting may naturally utilize a similar approach.
- Children of alcoholics commonly experience emotional difficulties like low self-esteem, guilt, shame, and anger.
- In adulthood, this can lead to emotional detachment or difficulty expressing your feelings.
- The instability and unpredictability of the family environment necessitate the development of resilience, maturity, and emotional intelligence at an early age.
- If your family is affected by alcohol use, it is important to seek help.
- For this reason, they may spend time trying to fix family problems or cover up the consequences.
A person may fear authority figures if their parents frequently caused them fear in what was supposed to be a safe and loving environment. In addition, if the police, judges, child safety personnel, and others were involved in their home life as a child, authority may seem unsafe. These fears can lead to difficulty in professional relationships as an adult. Children of parents with alcohol use disorder may struggle to understand the role that their choices play in the evolution of their lives and relationships. Some may learn to cope by reflecting their insecurities or worries onto others.
In turn, releasing those negative emotions can also reduce some physical health risks, such as heart disease. A professional counselor can help you determine if forgiveness therapy is the right option for you. These characteristics and behaviors are not unique to adult children of alcoholics, nor do they apply to all ACoAs. However, they are common enough to indicate that growing up with alcoholic parents can impact one’s personality, relationships, and mental health. When an alcohol addiction is the cause of an ACE, there are specific outcomes that are present throughout adulthood.
