Children of Addicted Parents
Many people who marry have children, and many people who marry are disfunctional in some way. Sadly, parents who engage in addiction and substance abuse are highly likely to produce disfunctional children, either in a mental way or a physical way. Many addicted and substance abusing parents assume that their “habit” only affects them, but statistics show that nothing could be farther from the truth. Children of addicted and substance abusing parents are far more likely to grow up with addictive tendencies of their own, mental disorders, and/or physical diseases.
The most obvious and most likely side effect of growing up in a home with addiction and substance abuse is developing addictive and substance abusing tendencies. The model our parents set for us becomes our inherent definition of normal. This is observed at a psychological, environmental and emotional level. If a child sees their parent condoning and favoring addiction or substance abuse, they will develop the potential to repeat this behavior. A large percentage of children of addicts and substance abusers adopt their parent’s unhealthy behaviors to the detriment of their own lives.
Another tragic affect of growing up around addiction and/or substance abuse is the development of mental disorders. Children of addicted and substance abusing parents are far more likely to struggle with one or several of a long list of mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar, antisocial personality, mania, panic, obsessive compulsive, post traumatic stress, phobia and schizophrenia. This is not to say that the parental example of addiction and substance abuse is entirely to blame for this trend. There can be many other factors contributing to a mental disorder. One of these factors brings the family dynamic full circle: substance abuse statistically aggravates mental disorders.
And lastly, if parents are abusing substances during the time their baby is conceived, or if the mother is abusing during gestation, the possibility for physical disease and deformity is present. The abuse of substances creates an imbalance of chemicals in a mature human body an introduces toxins into the system. A developing fetus cannot tolerate this introduction of unnatural chemicals and substances, and will frequenty develop incorrectly in the form of organ and system.