The impact of family addiction
Recent studies show that about 24 million of USA population are abusing illegal drugs. 18 millions of people in USA abuse alcohol and alone in 2012, about 22114 people died of over-doze. According to the reported statistics, about 10 percent of USA population abuse drug and alcohol and people around them in family, workplace and society are affected directly by them. 60 million dollars is spent each year to get the needed alcohol and drugs.
People who have been grown up in foster care, child abused situation, people with sexual assault and prison sentences, are at higher risk of abusing drugs and consequently being addicted to it. After addiction, individuals are mentally disordered and these disorders affects not only the patient or addicted one but also the family around them. Behavioral disorders resulted from addiction, influences the family and makes problems for them.
How does drug abuse affects family?
The more a person is approached to an addicted one, the more problem he/she will encounter. Families who have at least one drug addicted member in themselves know the above mentioned problem. These families are dealing with different kinds of problems and conditions in them. Some of these inter-family problems can be named as: high level of tensions, negativisms’, instability and co-dependent relationship. Co-dependent relationship is something vivid in families dealing with addiction.
75 percent of people grown up in foster placement, are suffering from alcohol abusing and 80 percent of people who have been grown up with child abuse experiment, suffer from drug abusing. The problems resulted from drug and family is something more critical with families in which the abuse heroin. Child in these families stays with family till 5 years old and after that he/she leaves the family and usually suffer from child abusing and child labor hood. Unfortunately, child who grow up in families dealing with addiction, are at risk of addiction, 8 times more than other families.
How does drug abuse effects on workplace?
According to the conducted study in 2006, about 19 millions of people abuse alcohol at work, whether while working or after work hours. You may have seen many people who abuse alcohol at work and if they have no access to alcohol they will be lazy, wine-headed and short-tempered. The first thing such workers are exhibited is being fired by their employers. Employees who are dealing with these conflicts of alcohol addiction must take more responsibilities to have better performance. Reduction of performance and productivity affects their job and may result in being fired and losing their job. At the other hand they may lost their personality and identity after being known as an addicted person at work and you know that identity and personality is not something easily accessible again. Such alcohol addicted or drug addicted employers rarely are added to the promotion list of manager and maybe even move upside-down and their degree is decreased.
How does addiction affects society?
Drug addiction is a complex and have to be recognized the sooner possible, if so, the patient will be freed from it and will return healthy and happily to the society. Another affecting aspect of drug addiction is its influence upon society. Addicted persons who have problems in family and society, have problems in society as well. These problems are resulted from mental and behavioral disorders. the more the degree of addiction is, the more the problems of one will be. Some of the effects of addiction on society are listed below:
- Increase in child custody losses
- Increase in child abuse and child neglecting
- Increase in the risk of addiction for child’s born from addicted person
- Increase in poverty
- Increase in homelessness
- Increase in street quarrels
- Increase in taxes
- Increase in violence
- Increase in co-worker’s difficulties and problems
- Increase in revenues
- Increase in mental disorders
- Increase in child abuse
- Increase in rate of leaving school by students
We can still add to this list. For example, we can add unemployment by many of companies, because they don’t trust in people who previously have had addiction. We can also add rejection form people in the society. Addiction is not something effecting on family and the person him/herself, but also at the same time it is destructing the social and professional aspect of the addicted one.
