The Role of Family in Long-Term Addiction Recovery

Two factors can be instrumental for long-term recovery: the people you surround yourself with and your environment. While struggling with substance abuse often erodes family dynamics, being surrounded by people who love and support you through the highs and lows provides a positive environment for addiction recovery.

However, substance abuse negatively impacts family dynamics. In discussing the essential role families play in recovery, we first have to understand how substance abuse affects the ones closest to you.

Challenges Within the Family Dynamic

When someone in your family struggles with a substance use disorder (SUD), you feel a range of emotions. At its core, substance abuse erodes trust within the family. The person with the SUD can display manipulative behaviours, depending on the addiction. For example, they can request money for food, yet blow it all on gambling.

People struggling with addiction often lie to cover up their behaviour or to downplay the addiction. They can become unreliable or forgetful, especially when it comes to essential events, arriving late and dishevelled or missing it altogether. Families often become fearful for their loved one’s safety or their own, especially when gambling or drugs are involved.

The emotions associated with dealing with someone with substance abuse range from hopelessness to anger to shock. However, families can help their loved ones struggling with addiction maintain and achieve long-lasting sobriety. Despite seeing them struggle and in the throes of detoxification, family plays an essential role in treatment.

What role does family play in addiction recovery?

Family plays an essential role in recovery. They act as a support network and can encourage you along your journey. Family can hold you accountable and is familiar with the “tells” of usage. They are your best ally in remaining sober because they know you the best.

Dysfunctional Roles

However, families impacted by SUDs can morph into a dysfunctional system. In it, people may subconsciously take on a specific role to cope. The roles may be the following:

Mascot

Mascots are those who provide comic relief to a stressed-out family. Sometimes, the humour is unfortunately aimed at the person with the SUD. Humour is often used to minimize pain and deflect hurt, which can ultimately become a maladaptive coping technique.

Hero or Saviour

This is the “shining star” in the family system. This person excels, looks good, and consistently delivers results. They compensate for family shame by being a superstar. They may cover for the person with an SUD or attempt to make the person appear pleasing.

This person may overlook or overcompensate for major issues requiring intervention, or be in denial. Additionally, they could be compensating for feelings of emptiness or helplessness generated from the dysfunctional family dynamic.

Lost Child

A lost child hides out. They are not emotionally or physically available so as not to “rock the boat”. A lost child suppresses emotions and avoids conflict. They don’t drain the family’s emotional resources, yet they suffer internally.

Enabler/Caregiver/Rescuer

Enablers insulate the addicted person by offering behavioural excuses or minimizing the severity of the person’s addiction. They are unable or unwilling to hold the person responsible for their actions. Instead, they overcompensate, smooth things over, or run interference for the person who experiences the consequences of their actions.

This behaviour arises from a desire to prevent embarrassment and shame. However, it ends up stunting an addict’s ability to achieve a sustainable recovery if specific patterns aren’t changed.

Scapegoat

This is the person who is blamed for everything. They create other concerns or problems to deflect attention away from the addicted individual by being a distraction.

Healthy Roles

Family members can adopt healthy behaviours and roles that support and encourage recovery. For example, a parent who was formerly an enabler can establish firm boundaries while remaining loving, making their loved one feel encouraged and empowered, and ultimately strengthening the parent.

The positive roles within the family are as follows:

• Noticing behavioural changes that may signal a relapse
• Helping a loved one complete treatment plans
• Advocating for a loved one’s needs
• Crisis intervention
• Helping a loved one choose the best treatment options
• Giving essential information to a provider to establish proper treatment methods
• Maintaining accurate health records

At New Dawn Medical, we encourage families to be actively involved in their treatment through family therapy sessions, by creating a supportive environment, and by remaining diligent in their treatment. Support groups are a tremendous resource for family members who can attend with loved ones or participate in their support group.

The Benefits of Family Involvement

Those with an SUD benefit from family involvement because they are:

• Less likely to need hospitalization
• Likely to stick with treatment
• More likely to recover
• Less likely to relapse
• Not as likely to be involved in criminal activity

Families benefit by learning coping strategies, educating themselves on addictions, and being a source of support.

How can family support help?

Recovery isn’t confined to treatment; it is a lifelong commitment. People must remain diligent about staying sober at all times. The role family plays in recovery can change over time, but having a solid support system is essential in maintaining sobriety.

Families can help a loved one succeed by the following strategies:

• Educating yourself: Addiction can be a complex and powerful phenomenon. Although you may understand certain aspects, there is still a great deal of information to learn. SUD involves a person’s entire being (psychologically, emotionally, behaviourally, and neurologically). Understanding its effect provides insight into why breakthroughs are challenging.
• Attend therapy sessions: Family sessions are essential as they help create healthy boundaries, improve family dynamics, foster openness, address communication issues, and promote a cohesive team atmosphere.
• Peer groups: During treatment for addiction, peer groups can be highly beneficial. Whether you are the person struggling or a member of your family, peer groups help you navigate the complexities of emotions with people who have firsthand experience. It helps people know that they are not alone.
• Reduces enabling: Families naturally try to protect the ones they love. However, this protection may prevent you from experiencing the consequences of addiction. Yet, by doing so, they prevent you from being motivated to continue recovery and to make better choices.
• Emotional support: By being encouraging, you provide positive reinforcement, listen to the person’s concerns, give support when needed, and maintain a positive atmosphere. This support increases the chance of recovery.

New Dawn Medical Can Help Your Family Heal

The best way to help someone throughout addiction recovery is to provide support and create a positive environment. People tend to revert to negative patterns when thrust back into a poor environment. Being an encouragement to a loved one in their life may be the difference between a successful outcome and relapse.

To learn about the options available to you and/or a loved one, please contact New Dawn Medical at 647-625-8799 or complete our online form here.