Children need a loving, stable environment in which to thrive and grow. In a family where there is substance abuse, the importance of these criteria are substantially lowered. Substance abuse can include alcohol, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine or even prescription drugs, such as Valium. All these drugs have detrimental effects on young children, because they receive no predictability from one day to the next in terms of parenting. Parents who are sober will behave one way; parents who are "high" or drunk will behave another way.
Considerations
The number of children who live or who have lived with a substance abuser are staggering, according to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health report. The report estimated that 8.3 million children under the age of 18 had lived or were living with a substance abuser. This is a dangerous situation no matter what substance is being abused. The chances that the child will be neglected or harmed in a motor vehicle accident are substantially higher in this type of living situation.
Effects
Children living with a substance abuser are often ashamed and try to hide the fact that they have a parent who is drunk or "high" most of the time. A child of an alcoholic mother who drank while she was pregnant will often be born with a gamut of physical and mental problems, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, or FASD. Likewise, a child whose mother used crack cocaine while pregnant will be born addicted to the drug itself.
Warning
Children who live with someone who is producing and using methamphetamine, or "meth," are at a high risk of inhaling the toxic fumes of this homemade drug. Inhaling the by-products of the drug while it is "cooking" can cause pulmonary and cardiac problems. Additionally, chemical burns, explosions and fires are not unusual in households where there is a meth "lab."
Violence and Substance Abuse
According to a report issued by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice in Washington, D.C., young children will do anything to keep their parent(s) with them, even if their parents turn violent while under the influence of a substance. Children may think that if they tell someone about the substance abuse that their parents will be taken from them. They might worry who will take care of them. Children often believe it is better to keep the family secrets so that they don't lose a parent.
Prevention/Solution
It is up to parents to provide their children with a safe and loving home. Substance abuse is frightening for young children to witness, and it may have traumatic, long-term effects on a child's personality. Parents can remedy this by seeking professional help for their addictions, then start rebuilding a relationship of trust and love between their children and themselves as soon as they can.
References
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Addiction
- Treatments Solutions Network: Effects of Substance Abuse on Children in the Family
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Children: Living with Substance-Dependent or Substance-Abusing Parents: 2002 to 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Mayo Clinic: Methamphetamine Abuse: A Perfect Storm of Complications
