Drug addiction can develop destruction in all parts of your life, as well as the lives of your loved ones. Your family aspects may be significantly impacted, causing damage that cannot be quite easily repaired. This is because, addiction is a disease that does not only affect the addict themselves, it impacts nearly everyone you are in contact with, particularly your family and friends. Northlake Recovery focuses on not only our clients in the program, but their family patiently waiting at home for good news.

How is your family influenced?

When misusing drugs, you do not stop to reflect on your decisions, choices or the consequences of them, this causes friction and trauma in your personal relationships that may not be repairable.

The Time, Energy and Concentration of an Addict

Your addiction to drugs has used up a substantial portion of your time, energy and focus, making acquiring drugs and using your top priority. You have kept such a strong focus on getting and using drugs that it has left minimal time to spend with your family and friends. This may leave your loved ones feeling a large variety of feelings towards your drug use; resentment, bitterness, hurt and even jealous. You may notice that you have had raising numbers of disagreements with your loved ones, your associations are beginning to develop apart because you have been placing drugs ahead of your family.

Financial Stress

Addiction can cause a great financing concern in the lives of the addict themselves, as well as their family members. You have been shelling out any money you can get your hands on to score more drugs, funding your habit and causing your family to go impoverished. You can easily spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars sustaining your drug habit in as little as one day or a short binge.

Your addiction to drugs may be so serious that you are no longer able to operate in the workplace, causing you to lose your job. These creates a bigger burden on your spouse or loved one as they are then required to solely provide and care for the rest of your family, as well as for you.

Far too many families have been faced with the decision of bankruptcy, foreclosure, losing their life’s savings, retirement savings and so on due to their loved ones’ addiction. Your drug addiction is greatly impacting the welfare and well-being of your family on a long-term basis. Northlake Recovery has a few tips to help you pay the bills and stay ahead of your finances while in treatment. Read more>

When Children are Involved

Drug addiction can cause serious emotional harm for your children. Your drug abuse may cause you to become violent, emotionally abuse your children or even sexually abuse them, causing damage that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Many children of addicts suffer from long term emotional and psychological devastation that causes serious influences on their social stability, as well as their education and mental health.

Using drugs has caused your children to shed respect for you as you are no longer reliable, hurting yourself and them. Your home may be missing structure and rules, causing your child to turn to a life like your own as a retreat from pain in their reality. With such instability, your children may even begin to blame your drug use on themselves, causing further mental and emotional harm.

Government researches show that an estimate of 50-80% of child abuse and neglect incidents are a result of the parent (or parents) being involved with drugs or alcohol.

Your Spouse or Partner Suffers too

Your addiction may have led to spousal of partner abuse; physical and emotional. This can have destructive effects on your relationship. Many intimate relationships suffering through drug addiction can lead to disloyalty or seeking other forms of satisfaction outside the relationship by the addict, who then validates their actions. Your loved one may sympathize with you, however this is purely manipulation and justifications on your part to validate your destructive behavior.

An estimated 75% of family violence incidents occur because of one or more of the people involved having used drugs or alcohol

Risking Your Health and the Health of Others

Drugs can hinder your judgement, this may cause you to take part in dangerous sexual behavior which puts you in significant risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases. When you have a companion or spouse back home you are then putting their health at risk of contracting these STD’s.

If you use intravenous drugs and needle share you are putting yourself and others at elevated risk of contracting blood borne diseases that too can transfer to your partner. These diseases that can be acquired through needle swapping can cause you or your loved ones to becoming very ill, possibly killing them, triggering an increasing amount of stress on your family.

The Effects of Your Addiction

The effects of drugs on your family may lead to division or divorce with your spouse or partner. It can cause an unpredictable environment for your children, causing emotional and psychological damage. You may suffer serious financing problems. Your health may even begin to decline.

The effect of drug addiction is only causing harm in your life and the lives of your loved ones. It is time to seek help and begin your recovery, for not only yourself but for your family as well. If you or someone you love is dealing with addiction in any form, call Northlake Recovery toll free at (561)-770-6616.