Heroin addiction can fracture and damage family ties and relationships with immediate and extended family members.
The effects of drug abuse on familiescan be severe and long-lasting, especially when one member of the family struggles withheroin addiction.Most discussions about addiction focus on the person who uses heroin, but addiction impacts the lives of everyone around them, includingfamily members and friends.
As the prevalence of heroin abuse and addiction increases, it’s important to identify theeffects of drug abuse on familymembers so that everyone, including loved ones, can get the support they need to overcome heroin addiction.
Article at a Glance:
Important points to remember about how heroin affects families include:
- Heroin impacts more than just the person with the addiction
- Parents of people with heroin addiction face a greater risk of outliving their child
- Partners of people with heroin addiction are more likely to experience domestic abuse
- Children of people with heroin addiction are more likely to suffer sexual or physical abuse
Heroin Affects Parents
Heroin use is increasing among most demographics in the United States, including adolescents and teens.According to recent data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly one out of every four people ages 18-20 abused anillicit substancein the month prior to the survey.
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Being the parent of someone who struggles with heroin addiction can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. There are severalsigns of heroin addictionthat parents may notice. The child or adult may become closed-off, distant and dishonest. Parents may find that their teen or adult child is stealing money or items from them to sell to buy heroin.
When young people abuse drugs, they usually engage in riskier criminal or sexual activity. Therefore, parents may have to bail their children out of trouble or extract them from dangerous situations. Parents may also have to live through the premature death of a child.Alarmingly, from 1999-2016, the rate of fatalheroin overdosesin teens aged 15-19 increased by 404%.
Heroin Affects Partners
The use of drugs, including heroin, leads to a significantnumber of divorcesannually. When a person’s spousestruggles with heroin addiction, they face an increased chance ofdomestic violenceand abuse as well.
Additionally, one study reported that married or cohabiting people who abuse drugs, including heroin, are up tosix times more likelythan people in the general population to have experienced intimate partner violence in the past year. Married couples where one or both spouses have an addiction to heroin may also grapple with job loss, bankruptcy and homelessness.
Partners of people who use heroin may engage in codependent relationships. Acodependentpartner enables the self-destructive behavior of their loved one. Examples of codependent behavior includemaking excuses for the partner’s drug abuseor making personal sacrifices to satisfy the partner’s needs.
Heroin Affects Children
As much as parents and spouses are affected by drug use, perhaps no group experiences more long-lasting damage than the children of individuals living with heroin addiction.
Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration states that approximately1 in 8 children 17 or youngerlive in a house with one parent who has a substance use disorder.
Compared to their peers, children of parents who use heroin are at ahigher risk of:
- Infectious diseases, including gastrointestinal and respiratory conditions
- Deficiency-related diseases, including malnutrition and anemia
- Experiencing neglect, maltreatment and abandonment
- Frequent hospitalizations
- Increased risk of delinquency and marginality
Additionally, a parent with a substance use disorder, such as heroin addiction, isthree times more likelyto sexually or physically abuse their child.
Heroin Affects Siblings
One concern with siblings of people who use heroin is the increased likelihood that the sibling will also start misusing drugs. Older siblings model behaviors subsequently influence the behaviors of their younger siblings, and drug abuse is no exception. Research shows that asubstantial resemblance in substance abuse among siblingsexists, for reasons including modeling behaviors, collusion and conflict.
Additionally, siblings of people who use heroin have reported feeling an imbalance in attention and resources available due to the addiction taking center stage in the family. Older siblings may also be pushed intoparenting their younger siblingsor even a parent when one or both parents suffers from addiction.
Heroin Affects Extended Families
Heroin use affects extended families similarly to how it affects the immediate family. For many families, the relationships begin to break down as one family member’s heroin addiction worsens.
Relationships and spending time together typically becomes less important as heroin begins to control a person’s life. Family members may also lose trust in the family member who struggles with addiction if the person lies or steals.
Heroin can affect more than just the people who use it. If you have a family member with a heroin addiction,call The Recovery Villagetoday. Caring representatives can help you or someone in your family find an accredited addiction treatment center that can offer comprehensive care.
