The effects of alcoholism on the home environment has received little attention to date, warns the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. When a person has alcoholism, the effects are felt in the home among all family members. The effects on the home can be tremendous and include physical danger as well mental and emotional stress, changed roles in an attempt to keep the family home intact, and eventually sometimes the disintegration of the family itself.
Physical Effects
Members in the home are affected in various ways physically. Pregnant women who drink pose an increased risk to their unborn babies as the concentration of alcohol in her own system will be equal to that in the baby's bloodstream. The risk is primarily to brain development. Studies presented in All Psych show that about 5000 babies are born each year with severe damage caused by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and 35000 babies with milder forms of FAS. Domestic violence is a significant problem in homes of alcoholics. Children are at greater risk of violence and spouses of alcoholics report higher levels of abuse than their peers who are not married to alchoholics.
Emotional Effects
Emotional and mental stress are felt among all family members who are part of the household in which an alcoholic lives. Physical abuse and witnessing a parent who is abused result in emotional stress and mental issues may result later among these children. All Psych Journal notes that young children in homes with alcoholism sometimes have frequent nightmares and bedwetting. The effect of alcoholism may also include greater anxiety about socialization and going school. The effect among older siblings may be shown in depressive symptoms, perfectionism, isolation from peers, as well eating disorders and thinking about suicide.
Family Relations
Alcoholism in the home changes behavior not just among the alcohol abuser but also the abuser's spouse and children. Changed behavior includes each person's attempt to cope with the situation and keep the household functioning, however dysfunctional, warns the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Alcoholic parents are often unavailable to provide adequate care to children, resulting in children taking on roles as caretakers for each other and the alcoholic parent. The non-alcoholic spouse usually becomes co-dependent and attempts to cure the alcoholic in an overly nurturing way. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation also notes that members sometimes begin to isolate themselves from the drug abusing parent, or adolescent family member, when costs to the family are too much of a toll. In several cases, the family home eventually suffers under the stress to the point of collapsing.
