Adult Child of Addicts: Taking A Road Different from Your Parents

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, more than 78 million Americans, or 43 percent of the adult population has an alcoholism problem in the family. The same agency reveals that over 28 million American children have at least one parent addicted to drugs or alcohol. For these children, life is a nightmare that they want to wake up from to rid themselves of anger, confusion, fear, and resentment.

The situation gets more complicated by the fact that parents provide a model for children to follow thus they stand a higher risk of becoming drug dependents or alcoholics based on their genetics and upbringing.

An Adult Child of Addicted Parents

Growing up in a family where one or both of your parents are addicted to either drugs or alcohol can be painful and emotionally traumatic. You can suffer from psychological scars many years later as an adult. While you were young, you felt responsible for taking care of your parents while at the same time you lived in fear and guilt for failing to stop them. You’re most likely to have a very poor self-image and tend to mistrust most people.

As an adult child of addicted parents, you’re probably hurt, feeling like they chose drugs or alcohol over you. Understanding the nature of your parents’ addiction and being able to live with their addictive behavior may come with the understanding of three main facts: you’re not the cause of your parents’ addiction; you cannot control their behavior if they refuse to stop; and you can’t cure their drug or alcohol problem. Being able to move on, even acknowledging these facts, often proves to be difficult.

Addiction in the Family Stops with You

When alcoholism and drug addiction prevail in families, many children, as they grow into adulthood, find themselves in the same situation with alcohol and drugs. Unlikely as it may seem, however, shaping a promising future and leading a different path can be possible even if you’re a child of addicts and alcoholics. Your knowledge and exposure to addiction can be the very tool to use in preventing yourself from falling victim to the same habits. It may be difficult to do this on your own.

Help is available from the experts. Count on Carolina Counseling Services in Fuquay-Varina to provide the assistance you need. We have caring therapists and a safe environment to facilitate your recovery from the trauma of addiction in the family. Our licensed, contracted counselors, therapists and Psychologists can help provide healing for your emotional wounds.

Call now to request an appointment. Let a contracted therapist of Carolina Counseling Services in Fuquay-Varina show you the way to a happier and healthier course entirely different from your parents’.

We can Help! Call NOW!

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