This PTSD from an alcoholic spouse can also foster feelings of guilt and inadequacy, as partners often blame themselves for their loved one’s addiction. One of the greatest tools in helping people heal from trauma is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This aids children of alcoholic parents to reflect on their trauma and reprocess those events, allowing them to see it more objectively with emotional regulation.
Of course, the alcoholic parent’s behavior during their drinking and in its aftermath also plays a role. These trust issues can also impact an adult child’s personal relationships. They may have difficulty getting close with anyone, let alone being in a romantic relationship.
Your parents may have taught you to keep their secrets so they wouldn’t get into trouble. Or maybe you couldn’t confide in your friends or teachers for fear of losing your family or getting into trouble yourself. People and systems that are there to protect you instead become something you fear. Discover the wide range of issues we address, from substance use to mental health and many points in between, as well as the methods we use to ensure not just temporary relief but lasting healing. Watching your parents express anger, rage, and belligerence is emotionally stressful for you, as a child.
And studies show that ACoAs learn to be hypervigilant20 from a young age to protect themselves. Specific factors can include the child’s intellectual development, the presence of other caregivers, and the amount of time spent in the traumatic environment. Their circumstances may also lead to rule-breaking, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior in social settings. And sadly, effects of alcoholism on children can even include trauma, PTSD, and other difficult mental health conditions.
Many ACoAs also have trouble regulating their emotions.11 You most likely didn’t grow up with a positive model of emotional self-control because you may have seen your parents use alcohol to cope with unwanted feelings. Or you may have witnessed them become extremely emotionally volatile while drinking. So you didn’t have a chance to learn how to manage your emotions or react to others’ emotions in a positive way. Well, you may still be functional alcoholic even though you have a great professional, outside life. And, with a job that pays well, home, family, friendships, and social bonds, you may still have a big problem with high functioning alcoholism.
Our mission is to help as many people as possible overcome their addiction or mental health struggles. We do this by offering evidence-based and individualized treatment programs to each person who enrolls in our facility. If you have noticed that your child might be at risk of developing PTSD, the best thing you can do is seek help for yourself and them. Alcohol use should be brought under control to eliminate the risk of compounding the trauma and worsening symptoms. It will be hard for a young child to heal in a home where things are continuing to deteriorate.
Many rehabs offer trauma-informed programs to help you heal from your past, and learn healthy ways to communicate and cope. It’s common for ACoAs to feel responsible for their parent’s ptsd from alcoholic parent addiction and its consequences. Sometimes that’s because a parent directly places blame on their child through their words or actions.
According to a study by the National Association of Children of Alcoholics (NACOA), there are over 11 million children in the U.S. under the age of 18 living in families with at least one alcoholic parent. The statistics provided by multiple sources further break this down to about 76 million adults in the country who have lived or are currently living with a family history of alcoholism. Breaking the cycle of addiction within a family requires addressing both the visible and underlying issues.
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