Topic: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Forum Administrator | Posted: 31 Jul 2003 |
How can the effects of alcohol abuse on families be reduced?
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Topic: Re: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Christa Bidgood | Posted: 25 Aug 2003 |
Alcohol abuse and drug abuse to me is alcoholism and addiction.
My alcohol and drug abuse effected the entire family. I was violent stole the money to live and failed to look after any of the family memebrs myself included.
My former husband also abused alcohol refused to seek help and the violence led me to hospitals and women refuges, courts and police stations and still I went back.
The cause of the problem - alcoholism and addiction. I went to Al-anon and learn't about the nature of the disease.
Today my former husband has a new wife and I have a new husband and the family has become an extended family where we share the problems and resolve them. How is this possible? - by learning how to treat the alcoholic with love and understanding. I'm no longer abused and haven't been for 12 years. The violence is gone and replaced with understanding even when we disagree.
When my former husband drinks we find a better time to approach him etc etc etc.
By understanding the nature of the disease we intuitively know what to do by practising the 12 steps of Al-anon and changing our attitude which changes our perspective. All professionals dealing with drug and alcohol related problems in human beings should do themelves and thier clients the favour of learning about alcoholism and addiction. Al-anon and Nar-anon has an answer all we need to be is willing and not ignorant. Please try.
At least read the literature for yourselves
and keep an open mind. Families are being restored and where families have been fragmented through bitterness and pain the Al-anon program of 12 steps to recovery have offered these families to re-unit. The only ingredient is time and help.
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Topic: Re: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Jane Cruickshank | Posted: 26 Aug 2003 |
It is important to have all GP's involved in the prevention and control of Alcohol Abuse. All patients who present to a surgery should be required to outline their use of alcohol (in complete privacy) as it is very closely related to health issues and a factor in many diseases. It is unacceptable for a Doctor to claim they are too busy. Goverments need to up the Medicare Rebate to Doctors as it would be a health saving in the long term.
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Topic: Re: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Marie | Posted: 27 Aug 2003 |
My partner's drinking was totally out of control - he lied and hid bottles and missed work and I tried to keep everything together and failed miserably, got sick.
When I asked for help at the doctors they were able to suggest things for my partner but no one knew what to do for me until someone told me about Al-Anon Family Groups. Al-Anon's given me the support I need to work out what I need to do to take of myself properly - it would be great if doctors told their patients that Al-Anon exists then you could see if it helped you or not. I stopped getting so sick with worry, and learnt I wasn't the cause of his drinking Just having somewhere to go where people listened to me and udnerstood me made such an enormous difference - Al-Anon really helped.
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Topic: Re: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Ana Corpuz | Posted: 29 Aug 2003 |
Free training for parents on better communication skills with their kids at different age levels. Often parents want to talk about these issues with their kids but do not know where to start or how to moderate the dialogue so that it does not end up in an argument. Kids avoid talking to parents about these because they think they will not be understood and their friends are going to be judged. If parents are better equipped to communicate with their children, the experience will be more relaxed and be more fruitful for both parent and child.
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Topic: Re: Family Health and Wellbeing
Author: Kate | Posted: 29 Aug 2003 |
It would be great if doctors and counsellors could be encouraged to attend a couple of meetings of support organisations like Al-Anon Family Groups (for families & friends of people with drinking problems) or Nar-Anon (for families of people with drugs problems) so they knew about these free services and could tell their patients/clients about them. Even if they just display the information in their offices/surgeries that would help - I didn't know where to go to get help when my partner was abusing alcohol until I saw an Al-Anon poster in a TAFE counsellor's office.
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