How a Parent’s Alcoholism Can Affect Your Adulthood

When it comes to parenting, we all look back on our own childhood for the do’s and don’ts. If we’re lucky, we’ve had a great upbringing and we think our parents are “the best in the world”. That inspires you to want to be the same.

However, many people aren’t that lucky, for a number of reasons. An ever-increasing reason is that a child grew up in a home fuelled by alcoholism, particularly at a time when rehab and treatment wasn’t quite as accessible as it is today.

A parent’s alcoholism can have a significant impact on a person’s childhood that can lead into later life, making it more important than ever before to get help if suffering from such a condition. Alcohol rehab is readily available these days and going into recovery can improve a child’s upbringing tenfold, not just for that period of their life but their adult one too.

A parent’s alcoholism can last into their own child’s adulthood, affection relationships, day-to-day life and how they raise their own children.

Among the more common things you’ll find among adults who grew up with alcoholism in the family are:

Difficulty maintaining relationships

Many people have trouble maintaining relationships, and that can come from a variety of reasons. However, alcoholism can be one contributing factor. Alcoholic parents can leave a child feeling fearful, confused and distressed, while it can also create an environment of uncertainty. This can have an impact on trust when it comes to developing new relationships, which will ultimately lead to a breakdown in those.

Develop insecurities

Studies have shown that children with parents that suffer from alcohol abuse tend to fall into five different personality types, one of which sees them more awkward and carrying feelings of inadequacy, self-consciousness and shame. 

This can be really damaging to a person’s self esteem and it will lead to adults being uncomfortable in certain social situations or having a lack of confidence when it comes to their career. 

Avoid conflict

Parents who suffer with alcoholism are much more likely to have a short temper and violence is common within households where a person is suffering from alcohol addiction. For children that can often lead to them avoiding the conflict and staying away from parents, which at that stage feels the safest thing to do.

However, it can lead to avoiding conflict in later life. And while conflict is not always a good thing, in fact it’s mostly not, healthy conflict can ensure that your voice is heard when you disagree and you speak up for what you believe in. That influence of avoiding conflict is then likely to lead to an adult not doing things they wish to do, losing their identity and individuality, while also growing resentment towards people that are making all the decisions.

These are all things that can have serious impact on an adult’s life, and it all stems from alcoholic parenting at a young age.