Posts Tagged ‘Family Roles in Addiction’

Addiction has a detrimental effect not just on the addict but also on their relationship with their loved ones. Did you know that certain family dynamics can encourage and aggravate substance abuse and addiction?  When a member of the family is afflicted by an addiction, the other members will inadvertently assume roles as a reaction to the affliction.

While they may often take these issues based on their own belief systems, they can be oblivious to the fact that the family roles in addiction they play can plunge the affected member deeper into their addiction.  However, being able to identify these roles may be the key towards the recovery of the addict.

The family drama:  Knowing family roles in addiction

The disruptive family roles in addiction can be a roadblock to the addicted members journey towards recovery.  When the family reacts poorly to the afflicted members addiction, they automatically assume these roles, oblivious to the effect it has on the latter.  More often, this reaction is brought by the fact that they do not want to accept the reality of the family member’s addiction.  Hence, they assume family roles in addiction.

The following will describe these six disruptive family roles in addiction:

1. The Addict: as the term denotes, this member of the family is the one engaged in this destructive behavior.  It is important to know though that addiction is not limited to substance abuse.  It could be anything, from addiction to porn to addiction to the Internet; however there are five things that unify all addicts:

a. They frequently use excuses so as not to face the problem.

b. They constantly deny that they have a problem.

c. They constantly use their own and their family’s resources to support their addiction.

2. The Hero: the hero does whatever is needed to keep everyone happy.  He or she usually exerts extra effort to get good grades while at the same time looks after the family and cleans up after the addict.  While they may often think they are helping the entire family by doing good and becoming the doormat, they are only enabling the addiction.  In the end, they become resentful of the addict as well as the family for  burdening them with a great responsibility. It is important to take note that family roles in addiction can be dynamic. So there will be times when members assume one or two roles.

3. The Scapegoat: the scapegoat is the exact opposite of the hero as they try to garner attention by behaving badly, too.  The scapegoats’ action is driven by their anger towards the addict’s destructive behavior and the lack of attention.

4. The Mascot: the mascot, often referred to as the joker, diverts the family’s attention from the issue by keeping everyone smiling and happy.  They lighten up the situation by telling jokes or pulling pranks, often at the expense of the addict.  Their action is driven by their embarrassment or anger towards the situation.  The mascot often has difficulty relating to people in a more serious and emotional level so they often rely on humorous and superficial relationships. Family roles in addiction sometimes focus on the belief that there is nothing else other members can do. This is erroneous thinking.

5. The Lost Child: more commonly referred to as the invisible child, they are often withdrawn and do not call too much attention to him or herself.  With the addict, hero, scapegoat and the mascot competing for the attention of the parents, they often fade into the background.  As a result, they remain lost and unable to relate to others socially.  They also have difficulty in making decisions during their adulthood.  Of all family roles in addiction, the lost child, just like the addict, will grow up thinking less of herself or himself. They’re also more often than not, drifting, for they lack having an anchor, emotionally and physically.

6. The Helper: alternatively, the helper is also called the enabler.  They usually consent to the destructive behaviors of the addict by paying his or her bills, buying him or her drugs and covering up for them.  While they think they may be helping the addict, they are in fact dragging them further down into their addiction. If the addict in the family is the spouse, the helper tends to be the other partner. Either out of embarrassment or fear, or the possibility of the family being torn apart, the spouse transforms them into becoming the enabler-in-chief.

Curb the addiction by ending the drama

The first step towards the recovery of an addicted family member is by facing the fact that THERE IS A PROBLEM and that family roles in addiction exist. Once they stop ignoring or denying the problem and start addressing the problem, these roles will disintegrate and the addict will be able to address their addiction.  Otherwise, the problems will fester and will eventually take its toll on the addict’s life.  This could also affect the mental health of the younger children in their formative years.

It is important, however, that the family tackle this issue as a team and recognize the impact of family roles in addiction.  The most effective way to do that is by attending family therapy and programs that are aimed to helping the family in coping with the addiction within their circle as well as the recovery of the afflicted member.

Hawaii Island Recovery’s Big Island Addiction Treatment center offers family therapy, which offer counseling and support for family members who are dealing with the addiction of one member of their family.

Set in the magnificent landscape of the Big Island of Hawaii, the Hawaii Island Recovery offers a peaceful refuge, which is conducive for self-reflection and self-restoration.  They also offer customized treatments depending on the preferences of the clients.

For more information on Hawaii Island Recovery’s Big Island Addiction Treatment Program, please visit the www.bigislandtreatment.com website. You may also contact them at 866-906-6911.

As much as addiction may seem like an individual problem, it is also interconnected with the family. Family roles in addiction, according to Hawaii Island Recovery’s Big Island Rehab, can make or break the rehabilitation and treatment. They say that addiction can be managed by the person and the people around them, to bring things in control. However, there are families that could actually contribute to the addiction instead of helping the person move out of it. It could be in the simple caring gestures or reprimand that pushes the person more into the addiction. One common example of this would be drinking, where the person would be easily upset about something that he would go drinking instead of facing the problem. The family members could reprimand, but more often than not, the addicted person would see this as another problem to get away from and will not listen at all.

Another factor contributing to this would be the attitude towards the addiction. Instead of being able to help the person get out of it, they belittle the ability of the person to move out of the situation, thinking that all it takes to get out of it is sheer willpower. The fact of the matter is that an addiction also has something to do with the person’s biology as well. It’s not only a lack of sense of morality, but also an imbalance within a person’s physiology. Family members must also be able to understand this, that the longer the person has been addicted to something, the body will tend to depend on it, like it was something the person cannot live without, as if it had been a part of being able to breathe.

What families should do

Families should be able to understand the situation that the person is in now and be able to positively support him. The main factor in being able to help someone recover is for the family to be able to understand the situation completely and be able to act accordingly to hold strong for their family member. However, families should also be able to give the tough love that the family member would need. There are some instances if the addiction gets worse, it could end in the family’s hands to turn the family member over to the police or to an institution.

It is also part of the roles of the family to make other members of the family understand the issues at hand, and what must be done to help one another. This is not an easy task, and conflicts could always arise between family members. Tension is high when there is a serious problem between family members and it’s something that needs resolution to be able to focus on the bigger problem at hand.

What families should understand

Family roles in addiction involve understanding how they are helping the addicted family member. Sometimes it’s not easy to see that we might be in denial of the situation or actually enabling the addition to be worse. If the person is someone you used to really depend on, you might actually be just waiting for him to get over his addiction instead of helping him get out of it. Knowing your role as a family member can contribute greatly both ways, and it will contribute more once your family member begins the recover process.

Recovering from an addiction is no miracle, and there will always be relapse. Family members should understand that there will be times that their family member suffering from an addiction will eventually go back to the need to have that addiction. Family members should be aware of the types of symptoms that they would find. Most common symptoms would be the opposite of what the drug or substance gives them. If the drugs gave them a certain high, they would feel depressed and would most likely have anxiety attacks, convincing themselves that they would feel better if they had the addiction. If the drugs they used made them lethargic or kept them calm, they would always be found anxious and unable to control themselves in light of a problem or a stressful situation.

Going through Hawaii Island Recovery’s Big Island Rehab

Rehab has long stopped being only for the addicted person and has become an avenue for families to also heal themselves. We are all interconnected in our relationships with people, and someone can get through something better with other people for support. Understanding as a family is also a big step for anyone going through something big. Big Island Rehab specializes in a lot of areas of addiction rehabilitation and will dedicate their expertise in helping the addicted and identifying the roles of the family members.

Treatment through Hawaii Island Recovery’s Big Island Rehab assures respect, privacy and safety to all their clients and their professionalism is paramount in treating addiction both in the physical and mental aspect. They match up their treatment based on what the addiction is and how the family is treating the problem together. They get as much information as they can and make their treatment as personalized as possible, still connecting it the validated interventions used worldwide. With this in mind, they can help the family be part of every step of the way of the recovery.

This rehabilitation program also has a long term support plan once their client is out of the woods. They will provide plans for the person’s continuing care and recovering at home, work and their community. In these plans also involve what the family can commit through the said process of continuous recovery. They have what is called a Discharge Plan which they will help you plan out what should be done as a family to be able to support each other.

Addiction is not a light matter, and it can affect not only the addicted, but also the different groups of people from which he is involved in. It can take its toll on the community but it’s the immediate family that would be most affected. Family roles in addiction can greatly help in recovery if families were given the proper understanding to deal with the problem. Someone going through an addiction will need all the help and understanding that he can get in order to be able to recover completely.

If you would like to learn more about a families role in addiction please call Hawaii Island Recovery at 866-906-6911.