Sue and Tom* were married less than a year before Tom’s alcoholism began to hurt their marriage. Tom was eight years older than Sue, a graduate student at a prestigious university; she was an at-home mom for their first child, but would shortly start graduate school herself. The drinking problem was insidious at first. Tom’s…
Millions of Americans know how painful it is to watch a loved one struggle with alcohol or drug abuse. Research shows that more than 40% of adults in the United States have at least one addicted person in their immediate family. It is even more painful feeling powerless to help. Should you have a heart-to-heart…
“Teach your children well,” a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song famously advises. Children are impressionable, like tofu that absorbs the flavor of whatever it’s immersed in. But sadly, many children are immersed in unsavory environments. It’s time to learn how to teach your children about substance use. Influence of Parental Attitudes Some parents say…
If you read anything in the news about drugs and addiction, the stories are usually bleak. More young people are abusing prescription drugs and a heroin epidemic, along with overdose deaths, is sweeping the country.
Not everyone can say they have the best father in the world. Father’s Day is the one day a year that people are encouraged to acknowledge and appreciate their dads, but if you grew up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional home, the thought of honoring your father in any way, or even the thought…
Flowers are nice. Jewelry is generally appreciated. Going out to dinner is a popular favorite. But when it comes to giving Mom a gift she’ll remember long after the flowers are wilted, the jewelry is carefully stored and the meal is something of the past, many sons and daughters might consider a loving gift instead.…
Her father’s despair seeped into every waking moment, poisoning the family. By age 5, Christal Presley routinely barricaded her dresser against her bedroom door. He could go from fetal position to fury. “I’m going to the river, and I won’t be back!” he would yell, grabbing a gun. “For the first two years of that,…
Adult children of alcoholics are people who grew up in a household with at least one parent affected by alcoholism. A significant minority of all U.S. adults come from such a background. In a study published in January 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, a team of American researchers assessed the chances that young adult…
The links between alcoholism, genetics and family history are not easy to understand. What we know for sure, though, is that there is a connection. This does not mean that if you had an alcoholic parent, or if both of your parents suffered from alcoholism, that you are destined to become one as well. It…
Researchers and mental health professionals have known for a long time that men and boys have elevated chances of dying from suicide, even though they make suicide attempts far less often than women and girls. Researchers and doctors have also identified many of the risk factors that increase the likelihood of suicide. According to the…