Family of Addiction: What Can Parents Do to Prevent Addiction With Their Other Children?

Parents who learn one child has a drug addiction frequently begin to feel instant fear for their other children and want to do all they can to protect them. Seeing one family member go through the pain of substance abuse can cause panic in the heart of a parent who wants to desperately prevent drug addiction in their other children.

Unfortunately, the fears parents often feel are based on facts. Children who have close family members with a history of addiction are more biologically inclined to become addicts themselves. [1] Though this fact is frightening, parents do not have to sit back and blindly watch their children succumb to the dangers of prescription drug abuse like so many struggling young adults.

“Your Choice” – One Family Who Fought Back is Now Helping Other Families

The key to drug prevention is talking with kids as early as possible and informing them of the many life-threatening dangers of drug abuse and addiction. [2] Studies have shown parents who offer a warm, receptive environment for communication are more likely to better influence their child to avoid the dangers of drugs in any form.

Parents should never blame themselves when they have done all they can to prevent their child from using. Regrettably, kids from all backgrounds and intelligence levels fall victim to drug abuse.

With prescription drug abuse on the rise, it is crucial parents keep all medications locked away. This is not an issue of trust, it is one of life-and-death protection. Unfortunately, young people often do not have the maturity to understand the true dangers of prescription drugs so they need to be protected. [3]

It is also important parents warn their children of the risks of prescription drugs so they will not attempt to self-medicate themselves.

Although it can be incredibly frightening finding out a child has been abusing drugs of any kind, it is crucial for parents try to keep a level head and seek treatment for their child as soon as possible. Drug exposure through the teen and young adult years can have profound effects on their developing brains. Often, mental health and drug abuse go hand in hand leading to a failure to launch and become a self-sufficient adult.

At the Crossroads understands the pain and fear parents may feel. We have created a unique independent living program that helps young adults who have been through rehab and need ongoing support so they can learn the skills they need to truly overcome their addiction and live a life of sobriety. When young adults graduate from our program, they are ready to face the world and live an effectual life that is free from the constraints of addiction.