Alcoholism and Families

You’ve probably seen a lot of movies and TV shows, and read about stories on books and magazines about the problem drinker and his deteriorating family life. Sadly, the situation presented in those media are true, if a bit overblown.

It’s not uncommon for families with an alcoholic to watch their loved one slowly turn into a stranger. Oftentimes they ask questions like, “How did this happen?” or “How do you make it stop?” Such questions are both perplexing and painfully true, and the variations of the queries are seemingly endless.

It’s the situations associated with the aforementioned questions that make alcoholism a so-called “family disease”. An alcoholic’s habits can easily and completely disrupt family life, as well as cause harmful effects that can very well last a lifetime. In addition, alcoholism has been found to cause more family problems than any other problem, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.

It can be said that the familial rifts can be associated with the fact that the alcoholic sees drinking as his only companion in life, placing the relationship with the bottle above all others. Once family members begin to question this “connection,” alcoholics can easily retaliate by way of defensiveness and denial; both of which can severely hamper the already deteriorating relationship.