Does Talking to Your Children About Your Family’s Addiction History Help, or Lead Them Down the Same Path?
DO NOT LIE TO YOUR CHILDREN.
So to tell or not to tell? That is the question. “In terms of prevention, I believe the truth, that young people be told that they have a genetic predisposition, would be helpful,” Dr. Landes offered. “Addiction often skips a generation. When I was working in adolescent residential treatment is was surprising to me how often the kids with drug problems did not grow up with actively using parents. The grandparents were often the active users. The children they raised saw the effects of the addiction and did not drink or use themselves.”
Dr. Landes says even though children of addicts may not abuse substances themselves, they tend to still raise their children with the same dysfunctional family values that they were raised with. “As a result, their children learn maladaptive coping strategies, experimented with weed/alcohol and then emotional relief.”
The way to prevent all this seems to rely on coping skills. Whether you grow up in a home with substance abuse, or grow up in a home that is completely sober, if there is addiction in your family, learning to cope in that environment is the key to preventing becoming addicted yourself.