Growing Up in an Alcoholic Home
By Dr. Randi Fredricks, Ph.D.
Alcoholism in the home has long-lasting effects. Children of alcoholics often learn to cope with an unhappy childhood
in ways that cause problems for them later in life.
Learning about how alcoholism affected your past can help you
build a better future.
Children of alcoholics often believe they are all alone, that no other families have these problems or that it is up to them to cure the parent.
A child may take the blame for a parent’s alcoholism or the parent may blame the child. As a result, many children of alcoholics not only feel unloved, but unlovable. Some of them suffer physical or sexual abuse, which reinforces this feeling. And because life at home is full of disappointments, broken promises and lies, the child learns not to trust, not to get too close to anyone and not to communicate in healthy ways.
Childhood Characteristics, Beliefs and Patterns in an Alcoholic Home
Children of alcoholics often act in one of the following ways
Become super-responsible, like a miniature adult
Become a trouble-maker
Become able to adjust to any change, without noise or fuss
Become a family clown or peacemaker, smoothing over troubles
Problems in Adult Life
Adult children of alcoholics often retain their childhood patterns. The super-responsible child may grow into an adult who demands perfectionism. The child who is the family’s scapegoat may have legal or financial troubles throughout life. The child who used to adjust to anything may be passive and withdrawn as an adult. And the family clown may group up to be entertaining, but irresponsible.
Adult children of alcoholics often retain their childhood patterns, even in the face of negative consequences.
An adult child of an alcoholic may be anxious, may try to control events and relationships, may have trouble being intimate, may be chronically depressed or have stress-related health problems. Tragically, many children of alcoholics either become chemically dependent themselves or marry alcoholics.
How to Help or Get Help
If you know a child living in an alcoholic home, try doing these things:
Gently encourage the child to talk about life and listen to what they say.
Invite the child to an outing or offer a quiet place to do homework.
Encourage the child to think of people who would be understanding and helpful in hard times - perhaps a teacher, friend, relative or neighbor.
If the parent drinks and drives, give the child your phone number and offer to come pick him/her up.
Suggest resources for the child, such as Alateen.
Tell the child that he or she cannot cause, control or cure the parent’s drinking.
Tell the child that alcoholism is a disease and it’s okay to love the parent but hate the disease.
If you grew up with an alcoholic parent:
Find out more about alcoholism and its effects on family members of alcoholics. Contact Al-Anon for information on special groups for adult children of alcoholics, or ask your employee assistance program for referrals to other helpful programs.
Talk about your feelings and experiences with friends, relatives, people in 12-step programs or health professionals. Check with your local chapter of AA to located meetings for ACOAs.
Remember you didn’t cause your parent’s drinking and no one but the parent had any chance of controlling it or curing it.
Psychotherapy can be helpful in making the first steps towards learning how to adjust to being brought up in an alcoholic home.
References (To view, roll mouse over the "References" heading; to hide, click on the heading)
Bavolek, S. J., & Henderson, H. L. (1990). Child maltreatment and alcohol abuse: Comparisons and perspectives for treatment. In R. T. Potter,
& P. S. Efron (Eds.). Aggression, family violence and chemical dependency (pp. 165-184). Binghamton: Haworth Press.
Drejer, K., Theikjaard, A., Teasedale, T. W., Schulsinger, F., & Goodwin, D. W. (1985). A prospective study of young men at high risk for alcoholism:
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Gabrielli, W. F., & Mednic, S. A. (1983). Intellectual performance in children of alcoholics. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171(7), 444-447.
Jacobson, S. W (1997). Assessing the impact of maternal drinking during and after pregnancy. Alcohol Health and Research World, 21(3), 199-203.
Schaefer, K.W.; Parsons, O.A.; Vohman, J.R. (1984). Neuropsychological differences between male familial and non-familial alcoholics and non-alcoholics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 8(4), 347-351.
Sher, K. J. (1991). Children of alcoholics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sher, K. J. (1997). Psychological characteristics of children of alcoholics. Alcohol Health and Research World, 21(3), 247-253.
Tarter, R. E., Hegedus, A. M., Goldstein, G., Shelly, C., & Alterman, A. (1984). Adolescent sons of alcoholics: Neuropsychological and personality characteristics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 8(2), 216-222.
Wolin, S.J., Bennett, L. A., Noonan, D. L., & Teitelbaum M. A. (1980). Disrupted family rituals: A factor in the intergenerational transmission of alcoholism. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 41(3). 199-214.
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