Drug Addiction Effects on The Family [Guide]

Drug Addiction Affects the Whole Family

It is estimated that more than 8 million children under the age of 18 live with at least one adult who has a substance use disorder (SUD). The way a parent’s drug addiction affects the family is felt by parents and children alike. “Addiction is a family disease” is a common saying in the mental health and substance abuse field.

This negative impact often begins during pregnancy. Taking drugs while pregnant puts the mother’s health at risk (heart attack, stroke, respiratory failure) and affects her unborn child. Risks include congenital disabilities, premature birth, underweight babies, and stillborn births.

Other negative impacts of parental SUDs include:

• Loss of Trust: Addicts lack dependability, so they often break promises made to children or spouses.
• Increased Stress: When an addict shirks all responsibilities, the enabling partner must pick up the slack.
• Financial Problems: Addicts often purchase expensive drugs using money the household needs.
• Physical and Emotional Abuse: Simple disagreements can easily get out of hand with an addict.

The effects of drug abuse on a family vary with the type of drug the addict uses. Using drugs like marijuana or heroin can cause parents to become forgetful or neglectful. Meth is especially dangerous, especially if the parent is involved in its production. 

Opioids can cause a parent to nod out, leaving their child unattended. Stimulant use, like cocaine, has an appetite-suppressing effect, which might lead to a parent forgetting to feed their kids. Cocaine also magnifies the intensity of emotional reactions so that a crying child might send a parent into a rage. 

Most frightening, crack cocaine use can expose a child to the dangers of physical or sexual abuse.  In general, trying to find or buy drugs can put kids into potentially dangerous circumstances.

The Impact of Addiction on Kids

The children growing up in a home with an addicted parent seem to have the cards stacked against them. This starts before their birth due to fetal drug syndrome. The negative effects of drug use by the mother may begin there.

 However, the effects of parental drug use neither end there nor are the mother’s fault alone. The ways drug addiction affects the family, by either parent, contribute to children’s poor well-being.

Children in homes with SUD parent(s):

• Will struggle with emotional or behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, and more.
• Will suffer from “failure to thrive.”
• Children are three times more likely to suffer neglect, physical or sexual abuse, emotional or physical neglect, or feel unsafe.
• Children are 50% more likely to be arrested as juveniles; 40% more likely to commit a violent crime.
• Children are more likely to live in a lower socioeconomic status.
• Children are more likely to struggle with school difficulties: lower grade point averages, increased grade retention, and failure to pursue secondary education.
• Increased conduct problems and aggressive behavior; hurts themselves or others; suffers from feelings of “unworthiness.”
• Mood disorders nearly double by young adulthood.
• Have nightmares or other sleeping problems.
• Children in these homes tend to self-parent and try to take care of other siblings.
• Blame themselves for the problems or at home; feel bad about themselves.
• Have an increased risk of developing a substance abuse disorder.

This list of negative effects of addiction on the family is by no means exhaustive, but it is daunting. Additionally, one lamentable result may include a social worker removing the child from the SUD home and placing him or her in foster care. While this may not be the ideal solution, the child’s health, security, and well-being should always come first.