How many people are involved in the life of any one addict? Family, friends, employers, co-workers … we are all affected by addiction – not just the addict. While our loved one struggles to feed his or her addiction, we have to cope with the fallout.The distress suffered by families and friends of addicts is severely underestimated. Through embarrassment and shame we often become isolated from friends and the wider community. We may start to question our own judgement because we’ve been lied to so many times or have been abused by the addict.
We probably feel like we’re living on a rollercoaster of emotions: anger, frustration, helplessness, confusion, hopelessness, guilt and shame. Stress takes its toll and manifests itself in health problems such as anxiety, depression, headaches and digestive disorders. We may even have suicidal feelings.
Usually we become so focused on the behaviour and problems of the addict that we completely lose sight of ourselves. All our energy is directed into caring for and covering up for the addict so that in the end, all we are doing is enabling him or her to pursue the addiction. The irony is that unless we care for ourselves, the vicious cycle of addiction is likely to continue because we have unwittingly built up a culture of dependency.
Changing our behaviour can be uncomfortable and very difficult, but we need to take responsibility for ourselves and our own recovery. There is evidence to suggest that when we take care of ourselves for our own sake, addicts may begin to seek help.
At The Recovery Network, we are committed to providing support for family members and friends who are often overlooked as victims of this illness.
~
~
~http://www.trntv.co.uk/family%2Dand%2Dfriends/
No comments:
Post a Comment