Are parents the cause of addiction?

Parents are not the cause of addiction. No matter how much influence parents believe they have over a child, the reality is, parents will only influence approximately 25% of what a child will do. Nevertheless, as I work in the field of adolescent substance abuse, I find many parents believing they are the source of their child’s addiction. Maybe this is because; society expects parents to have control over their child. For example, when a child is running wild in the grocery store, don’t we all whisper to ourselves “They need to get control of their child?” So when a teenager is drinking or doing drugs, of course the blame will fall back on the parents.

However, when it comes to addiction, I can tell you from a professional background and a personal background that parents do not create or reinforce addiction. I was brought up in a warm loving family, where my parents helped when needed but also let life teach when needed.
But at the age of fourteen I drank and smoked weed for the first time and the rest is history. I continued to use substances up until the age of 22. I eventually experienced so many natural negative consequences, I decided to change.

During my recovery, I discovered the source of my addiction was a multitude of factors, such has low self-esteem, social anxiety, and a personality trait that craves adventure. Nowhere, did I find my parents as a part of my addiction. Unless a parent is forcing a child to drink or do drugs, it is simply irrational to believe a parent has enough control to be responsible for a child’s addiction. If a parent was responsible for their child’s addiction then a parent would also be able to stop their child’s addiction.

-Chad Hepler works as an addiction counselor at an adolescent treatment center. He has published two books about his recovery, titled, Intervention: Anything But My Own Skin, and Beyond Intervention: A Memoir of Addiction and Recovery by Hepler, Chad (2012) Paperback.

Effective anti-drug drives focus on roots, not killing addicts |

There are some new studies out (read below video) that say if you teach parenting skills even to addicted mothers and if nurses visit these addicted mothers, their children have a less likely chance of abusing drugs themselves. It would be nice believe that we can teach addicted mothers how to take care of their kids--I haven't really seen that in my work, but maybe I am missing something. Most of the time addicted mothers just seem to get worse--I'd like to meet these counselors who are making this happen. Often, it is not so much the counseling or parenting skills that make the difference but the connection between the the helper and the helpee that really makes a difference. As a society, we keep trying to improve and I have to love us for that even if we get it wrong so many times before we get it right. If frequent contact with addicted mothers does in fact help their kids, good for us who keep trying. but i suspect that actually it is the skills of the ones working with the addicted moms rather than really teaching them much.

Effective anti-drug drives focus on roots, not killing addicts | Inquirer Global Nation: "Studies reported in the Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect (2012) and Pediatrics (2008) reveal that intervention at the family level can have significant impact if it starts as early as during pregnancy and early infancy for those with an addicted mother. Being born to addicted parents puts a child in one of the highest-risk groups for drug use, but longitudinal studies show that visits by trained nurses or social workers tasked with helping the mother deal with practical life issues (health, housing, etc.) and with parenting challenges markedly reduced drug use when the child reached adolescence. Programs that focus on teaching parenting skills not just to addicted parents, but also to the general population also proved to be effective in curbing drug use and related behavior, according to studies published in the Health Education Research (2008) and Drug and Alcohol Dependence (2007)."



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"Pharming parties" remind me of the Sties Pill parties

What goes around comes around. In the sixties we had parties tao beat all parties--we took handfuls of pills, smoked weed, drank, and dropped acid all at the same time. No wonder so many of us jumped out windows and such! No laughing matter, we always had huge bowls filled will all kinds of colored pills. Many ate them like M and Ms. I used to try to pick out the yellows and reds--not sure why. I chased them down with my beer or slow gin. I am not sure why I am still here. Maybe to pass on messages.

Anyway, yes, the kids need to be taught about prescriptions--but they are still going to experiment. Can we stop it? Not really--but we can model good behavior, make sure they know we don't approve and that it is dangerous and hope they make it to adulthood like I did!

"Pharming parties" put teenagers at risk for prescription drug abuse: "According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription and over-the-counter drugs are the most commonly abused substances by Americans age 14 and older, after marijuana and alcohol. Eden said, "Parents need to be aware. They need to not assume oh my child would never do that, because anybody's child could.""

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