Family Systems & Chemical Dependency Essay

Rules and roles are also cited as being a constituent of the family systems theory in alcoholism. Every family is different; however, they all have members that tend to fall into specific roles. The alcoholic's role is the dependent person, while their helpless partner is the enabler. The children also tend to fall into specific roles, either as the over-achiever, the scapegoat, the isolated, and/or the immature child. These are the typical roles that are makes up a family of an alcoholic. The transformation affects the entire family system, so much that everyone's life revolves around the alcoholism of the affected individual. Aside from the roles that everyone takes on, codependency begins to develop as well. There are two types of codependency discussed: the addict-centered model and the faulty family model. The latter blames the dysfunctional family unit as the root cause of the person's alcoholism and their mental health problems. It is as a result of the family stress levels that makes the alcoholic continue to drink. The addict-centered model focuses on the individual him or herself and blames the chemical addiction to alcohol as being the root cause of the problem and the main cause of the mental health illnesses that are largely comorbid.

The person afflicted with alcoholism is not the only person affected by the disease. Children also become victim of the choices that their parents make. Children of alcoholics grow up thinking that they cannot express their feelings about anything.In an attempt to avoid any triggers that may set off the alcoholic, they learn to keep everything to themselves and as a result are more likely to develop dysfunctional behaviors. They are also almost three times more likely to develop alcoholism themselves. Genetic predisposition as well as environmental factors exposes them to a greater risk. The quality of the interaction between alcoholic parent and child is also of great importance as this determines their future relationships. As children age, they become adult children of alcoholics and their effects are much more severe. After having faced a tough childhood, the adult children are more likely to be alcoholics themselves. They are more likely to engage in riskier behavior and are even more likely to mimic and display the same resentful and irritated behavior that their parents had toward them when they were young children. In order to avoid these possibilities, children of alcoholics need to be treated and counseled at a young age. If the proper intervention and care is not given to them, they will most likely continue on with the perpetual cycle of alcoholism.

References:

McNeece, C.A. & DiNitto, D.M. (2012). Family Systems and Chemical Dependency. In Chemical Dependency: A Systems Approach. (4th ed., pp. 293-304). Boston, MA. Pearson Education......