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Information for Families

Facts for the Friends and Families of Alcoholics

By Buddy T, About.com

Updated: August 21, 2007

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Steven Gans, MD

There are many resources on this site which are intended to help those who have a drinking problem, but also just as many for the families and friends of alcoholics. After all, alcoholism is considered a "family disease" that can effect all members of the family whether they realize it or not.

Are You Troubled by Someone's Drinking?
Millions of people are affected by the excessive drinking of someone close. The following questions, from Al-Anon Family Groups, are designed to help you decide whether or not you need Al-Anon.

Did You Grow Up with a Problem Drinker?
If a family member, friend, coworker or neighbor has or has had a drinking problem, the following questions, developed by Al-Anon Family Groups, may help you determine if Al-Anon is for you.

Adult Children of Alcoholics Quiz
Did you grow up in an alcoholic or other dysfunctional family? Those who grow up in homes where there is alcohol abuse or alcoholism are sometimes affected in ways they do not even realize.

How Can I Get Him to Stop?
When family members of those who are alcohol-dependent ask the above question about a drinker, the answer is never simple.

Why do I need help? He's the alcoholic!
The disease of alcoholism affects everyone in the family, whether they realize it or not.

Enabling - When 'Helping' Doesn't Really Help
Many times when family and friends try to "help" alcoholics, they are actually making it easier for them to continue in the progression of the disease.

Denial - A Symptom of Alcoholism?
One of the most frustrating factors in dealing with alcoholism, as a relative, friend or professional, is that alcoholism is almost always accompanied by a phenomenon known as "denial."

Detachment - Letting Go of Someone Else's Problem
For the friends and family of the alcoholic the key to serenity is finding the wisdom to know the difference between what they can and cannot change.

A Family in Crisis
This, unfortunately, is a true story about how many lives one alcoholic can affect, and how alcoholism can spiral into a full-fledged family disease.

Games Alcoholic Families Play (Part I)
You didn't cause it and you can't control it. But could you be contributing to the problem?

Games Families Play (Part II)
If you find yourself locked in to playing a role in the alcoholic's life, maybe you need to call "time out."

Al-Anon Meeting Topics
A discussion of 40 topics of interest to families of alcoholics and newcomers to Al-Anon.

Intervention
Sometimes when the alcoholic's problems reach the crisis level the only choice left to his family is professional intervention.

Another View of Intervention
A new book suggests that families may not be as powerless as they have been lead to believe in intervening with an alcoholic or addict family member.

Adult Children
Most of us who grew up in families affected by the disease of alcoholism never really did grow up.

Is Your Teenager Using?
If your child is using alcohol and drugs, it's a good bet he (or she) is probably doing everything possible to keep those activities hidden.

Growing Up 'Alcoholically'
Growing up in a home with an active alcoholic can affect how a child looks at life and almost everything in it.

The World of a Child
How does drinking affect the world of a child? This brochure pulls together a range of statistics on alcohol use by kids and its impact on their health.

Al-Anon Beginners Meeting
For the first time on the Internet, newcomers to Al-Anon Family Groups can participate in a web-based meeting.

Information about Alcoholism

But it doesn't act like a disease!
The difficulty in recognizing alcoholism as a disease is that it sure doesn't seem like one.

Problem Drinkers
Many people who have a problem with alcohol are not alcoholics, and in order to quit drinking, they do not necessarily need medical treatment, peer group support or a spiritual awakening.

Dry Drunks
Unfortunately, when many former drinkers go through the grieving process over the loss of their old friend the bottle, some never get past the anger stage.

Hitting Bottom
For those suffering from the disease of alcoholism, it seems to be an almost universal truth that before things can get better they have to get worse - sometimes a lot worse.

Explore Alcoholism

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