A family is more than the sum of a few individuals, it is an organized group, with its own characteristics as such a group. Alcohol disrupts the normal functioning of the family.
A family It is something more than the sum of a few individuals, it is an organized group, with its own characteristics as such a group, capable of acting on its own externally and also of maintaining internally a series of norms, roles and patterns of behavior that concern to all family members. The behavior of one of its components affects the family, and its behavior also affects the individual.
Alcoholism damages the stable functioning of the family. The stress that accompanies alcoholism it extends evenly to the entire family, rather than being limited to the person who drinks or the non-alcoholic spouse. Over time, alcoholism may sap a family’s energy and resources, but in the short term it may not be perceived as much of a threat to its survival.
He impact of alcoholism about the fundamental aspects of family life is what profoundly affects many families struggling with alcoholism. The child, as a member of the family, who develops and matures within it, also suffers the repercussions of that tense and dysfunctional environment that the alcoholic causes.
It should be taken into account that the years most critical trainers (the years in which children grow up and adolescents experiment with alcohol for the first time) are also those in which the adults in these families show the greatest predominance of patterns of intense alcohol consumption, that is, the prevalence of alcoholism is greater in adults with children attending school or, in other words, developing children and adolescents whose reference adult is an alcoholic.
In the mid-1970s, the concept of children of alcoholics was established as an independent research and treatment population, and what had been an undefined and unknown concept became an important social movement. Over time it has been recognized that children of alcoholics respond and adapt in very different ways. Within the same family, each child responds differently. There are many factors that affect the child’s response, among which are: the child’s age at the beginning of the problem, the type of relationship the child has with the affected parent, the child’s resources outside the family, the availability and type of relationship with the non-alcoholic parent, and the child’s innate qualities.
According to the family breakdown It should be noted that one of the most tragic characteristics of alcoholism is the long period of time that passes between the emergence of alcohol problems, their recognition and the decision to undergo treatment.
The first stage would correspond to the Denial of the alcohol problem. It is a period in which the person’s drinking begins to cause problems; He or she or her family member is not aware of this. The fact that we live in a society where many people drink alcohol makes denial easier. The family develops a true survival instinct, the term referring to the attempts the family makes to recover despite the problem.
How to deal with alcoholism in a family member?
When the family realizes that their attempts to cope with the alcohol problems have failed, the disorganization of the family unit occurs, producing the following changes:
The main objective of the family is survive. The family’s goals begin to change and, tired, they no longer try to change the drinker’s behavior.
2. Changes in family roles
The roles or roles of each member of the family unit begin to change. They must assume the responsibilities of an alcoholic patient. For example: the wife must be the one who manages to support the family and the children also assume certain household responsibilities.
The final stage would be acceptance, common in all families with alcohol problems. It is when the alcoholic accepts that there is a problem and that he needs to go to treatment. As the family is not only changing roles, but also feelings towards the drinker are faced with the possibility of total isolation and rejection. At this point, the family member decides to enter a treatment program. They still feel that drinking gives them some kind of reward despite all the negative consequences it has brought. Therefore, you will spend a lot of time within the program defining how you used alcohol and how you will be able to choose behaviors other than drinking to achieve the same positive effects that you previously achieved with alcohol.
