The Impact of Alcoholism

1. The Impact of Alcoholism

2. Parents who are alcoholics, or even one parent that is an alcoholic, have dozens of ways that they affect their children. Parents, who are heavy drinkers, do not pay attention to their children during the child’s growing phase as much as a sober parent would. As Michael Windle said in her article “Parental Drinking Contributes to Teen Alcoholism”, “Problem drinking by parents, however, may disrupt this emerging pattern of parent-adolescent relations and adversely affect adolescent development and adjustment in several ways…” (Windle 1). Alcoholic parents tend to not nurture their children at all, which then creates a divide in the family that could lead to more serious problems for the children. Whether children admit it or not, parents are role models to the children throughout their lives, kids learn most things from their parents. If a parent deals with stress by making themselves intoxicated, the children will end up doing the same. This can lead the child down the path of becoming an alcoholic at a young age. Parents are “emotionally unavailable” if they are an alcoholic. This also leads a divide amongst the family members, which can affect the child’s mental health, along with affecting a child’s family life. Parents who uncontrollably drink, tend to lash out at their children a lot more than a parent who was completely sober. This as well can deeply affect family relationships, and can lead to very unhealthy things, mentally and physically (Windle 1,2, & 3).