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https://sfhelp.org/gwc/news/coa_stats.htm
Updated
April 11, 2015
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See my comments after the
article. The links and hilights below
are mine.
THURSDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) --
Almost 12 percent of children in the United States live with a
parent who has a substance abuse problem, says a federal government
study released this week.
Living in this type of home
environment can cause long-lasting mental and physical health
problems, according to the U.S.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
which did the study.
The analysis of national data from 2002 to 2007 also showed that:
Almost 7.3 million youths lived
with a parent who was dependent on or abused alcohol
About 2.1 million children lived
with a parent who was dependent on or abused illicit drugs
About 5.4 million children lived
with a father who met the criteria for past-year substance
dependence or abuse
About 3.4 million children lived
with a mother who met these criteria
The findings were based on
responses from 87,656 parents, aged 18 and older, who were asked
about their substance dependence and abuse.
"The research increasingly shows that children growing up in homes
with alcohol- and drug-abusing parents suffer -- often greatly,"
Eric Broderick, the agency's acting administrator, said in a news
release.
"The chronic emotional stress in such an environment can damage
their social and emotional development and permanently impede
healthy brain development, often resulting in mental and physical
health problems across the life span," Broderick said.
"This underlines the
importance of preventive interventions at the earliest possible
age."
More information
The Nemours Foundation offers
advice to teens on how to deal with an alcoholic parent.
Comments
I believe this statistical summary is very
. The good news is that it alerts the public to a serious US
health problem. The bad news is it sigificantly understates the actual statistics because
chemical addicts commonly deny they have a problem. We also don't know what the
survey defined as chemical abuse or dependence. There is
significant disagreement on what these terms mean.
This report implies but avoids
stating directly that families with one or more chemically-dependent adults are
"dysfunctional" - i.e. they often cause serious psychological and physiological
problems to their members and to society.
The report's author misses a chance to stress
that chemical (or any) addiction is afamilyproblem, not just a
personal one. S/Healsomisses the chance to note that
there are three other types of addiction (moods, activities, and relationships)
that are equally damaging. This is another reason that
the actual number of
American kids living with an addicted parent is far higher than 12%.
Note the difference between "12% of U.S.
children..." and "millions of children..." Also note that
food is a "substance" that people abuse - hence the U.S. epidemic
of obesity in kids and adults.
The report says the results emphasize the
need for "preventive interventions at the earliest possible (child's) age." As
with most media coverage of addictions,
the author suggests substance "abuse" is the problem, rather than a symptom of
what causes it. From
36 years' clinical experience and study,
I
propose that all addictions are
unconscious attempts to minimize significant
inner pain
which comes from early-childhood neglect, abandonment, and abuse ("trauma").
Lesson 1 in this nonprofit Web site focuses on how to assess and reduce the inner
pain that causes up to six major psychological wounds - which in turn,
promote addictions and many other
problems.
Pause, breathe, and
reflect - why did you read this article? Did you get what you needed? If
not, what do you need? Who's
answering these questions - your
true Self, or
someone else?
This
article wasvery
helpful
somewhat helpful
not
helpful
The Web address of this article is
https://sfhelp.org/gwc/news/coa_stats.htm
Comments
For more perspective see this
