The average rate of drug addiction is one alcohol or drug addict per family arrangement. There are some families with series of addictions within the same system. For spouses who are addicted, they occur in two ways, mostly in the case of alcoholism. One of the occurrences is that a spouse can be intensely into drugs that it is clear to all the individuals it is an addiction, while for the other the addiction is not as apparent and obvious.
In a family system where there are so many addicts, there are factors, rules, roles and structure that will be promoting the continued usages of drugs and alcohol. This generally makes drug addiction less serious but more favorable. An example is family unions and celebrations that are characterized by taking alcohol.
In addition, there is a notion of expectation among the family members that a sober addict will become the kind of individuals the members of the family are used to or want him or her to be. What happens is that the family members are able to identify some undesirable traits of personality of drug addiction and develop the notion that an absence of the chemicals will let the addict’s real personality and self to emerge. The family members might see some preview of the wanted changes they might be looking for in a person during the recovery period but sustained behavior changes and traits occur after a period.
In this case, the addict in a recovery process is subjected to the family members’ hidden expectations regarding the wishes of seeing him or her change into the kind of individual they loved and wanted before the drug addiction or when the chemical effects are out of the body system. For the addict trying to recover, they always find it hard to figure where they usually fit in the arrangement of their family, as well as how to remain sober and clean as the conflicting expectations become clear.
Tags: addictions, behavior changes, drug addict, drug addiction, drugs and alcohol, members of the family, realism, recovery period, traits of personality, undesirable traits