Addiction is a Family Disease

Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Drug and alcohol addiction is a disease that affects many people and their family every single day. Addiction is a prevalent disease that affects not only the person suffering from drug or alcohol use, but their friends and loved ones as well. People that are a big part of your life may be affected as well, including colleagues, schoolmates, etc.

Almost 21 million Americans have at least one addiction disease, yet only 10% of them receive help at an addiction treatment and rehab for it. Sometimes it has to do with their insurance plan and other times it is a lack of personal acknowledgement that the person even has a problem, and will not admit it. People may not want to admit to members of their family that they are suffering and have a problem or ultimately, they don’t really want to stop using drugs and alcohol.

If you or a loved one is suffering from an addiction disease, please reach out to Inland Detox right away to get the necessary treatment help and therapy care for your addiction. A substance abuse disorder is not something that you can take on by yourself, and our program can help you in getting better. We can provide all the necessary information for you to feel comfortable coming to our treatment center.

Addiction is a Family Disease

The truth is an addiction disease doesn’t just affect the person who is suffering from substance abuse, addiction is a family disease. Substance abuse and addiction are a family disease because when the addict is using drugs and alcohol, it not only is causing harm to them but to those that are constantly around them.

Addiction is considered a family disease that can cause a lot of stress to a family system, to the point of breaking, while influencing the stability of the family’s unit, physical health, home life, mental health and overall family dynamics.

When you are part of a family, every decision one person makes in their life influences the other loved ones in direct and indirect ways. Because addiction is a family disease, when one family member struggles with addiction, the negative consequences of those life choices can affect the entire family unit. There are many emotions around an addicted family member, and it can be difficult to know the right thing to do for the addict to help them.

If addiction is considered a family disease, it is unreasonable to place all of the responsibility on the individual using substances to repair the family unit. Often, an addict hides the truth about their substance use disorder, ensuring that nobody knows how often they are using it. This allows them to continue doing what they’re doing, despite what their parents or families might say about their life choices and behaviors.

Is Substance Abuse Biological?

Research information tells us that like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, addiction can happen due to a combination of environment, psychological, behavioral, biological and psychological factors. Genetic risk factors account for about half of the likelihood that an individual will develop addiction.

Certain factors, such as a family history of addiction, trauma or inadequately treated mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, may make some people more susceptible to substance use disorders than others.

How Addiction Affects the Family

From the closest relative to the most distant, everyone in the family suffers some level of distress when addiction turns into a family disease. Possible effects of family addiction include:

Mental health problems worsened by persistent stress, such as:

• Anger and resentment
• Anxiety
• Hopelessness and depression
• Risky sexual behavior and promiscuity
• Shame
• Isolation

Because this is a family disease, many times individuals in the family will try to do whatever they can to get the person to stop. When parents and families attempt to control the addicted family member, problems can start to arise, and new patterns behaviors begin to form. Some of these behaviors may include negativity in communications, misguided expectations from family, inconsistent rule-setting from family, misdirected anger towards family, self-medication, avoiding all behaviors and warning signs.

Children of family members do not change the rules of how addiction can affect a family. Many times, a child ends up taking on the role of caregiver for their family members or addicted parents suffering from addiction.

If you or a loved family member is in the grips of addiction, please contact our treatment center for information on our treatment, therapy and drug rehab services.

Healing and Recovery

The first step to healing and recovery from an addiction, including family members, is to seek out addiction treatment services at a treatment center. This can include an inpatient or outpatient treatment center that can treat the symptoms associated with addiction.

An outpatient program allows the patient to attend behavioral counseling sessions with family members, but the client is able to remain living at home. An outpatient rehab program allows the client to continue with their current responsibilities, and does not require that they live at the center. An outpatient program does work for some people, but an outpatient program is not always the best option for the best outcome.

Despite an outpatient addiction program being an option, the best opportunity is with an inpatient or residential program such as Inland Detox. This type of rehab program center allows

the addiction treatment to take place around the clock, and the client can receive constant care.

Addiction Treatment at Inland Detox

Inland Detox is a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center with treatment services that include detox, cognitive behavioral therapies, holistic care and inpatient addiction treatment. Our addiction team is dedicated to providing care to all of our patients and their family members, ensuring the safest and most comfortable outcomes when it comes to their recovery.

The drug addiction treatment program at Inland Detox provides treatment therapy help and an array of different treatment methods to treat addiction for you or a loved one. Along with traditional methods of treatment, our treatment center offers holistic health options such as yoga, meditation and coping skills training. We understand how difficult addiction is for you and your family, and we want to be there every step of the way during your treatment to help you achieve recovery.

Our drug treatment center offers therapy and services to meet the specific needs of each individual client and family that walks in our door. We know there is not a “one size fits all” treatment for an addiction, and we want to make certain that all of our clients feel comfortable with the method of treatment we will be using at our center. Because we know that abuse to substances is a family disease, we involve and help the entire family in the treatment process.

Getting Help

The first step in getting treatment help for an addiction is to contact one of our admissions staff to determine the extent of the addiction and whether treatment is necessary. Our addiction treatment specialists are well-educated on addiction and will be able to determine the necessary treatment methods for the best outcomes of your recovery.

Your addiction does not define you, and there is treatment available that can help you move into a full recovery from addiction. For more information on our addiction treatment services, please contact one of our addiction treatment staff. We are happy to give you information on our specific services, insurance information, or answer any additional questions that you may have.