There is a lot of negative impact due to addiction. Not only the person suffering from addiction but also the family members have to face the consequences of addiction. The person who suffers from addiction is generally unaware of the negative consequences faced by their family members. This leads to continuity in addiction. 

Every Thursday, we at Medicircle conduct a special series called Bindas Bol with Dr.Kumar Kamble. Dr.Kumar Kamble is not only a professional sexologist but also a de-addiction specialist. Dr. Kamble has special expertise and experience in working with the King Edward Memorial Hospital in the Deaddiction center for 4 years. 

At Medcircle, we are presenting the Ask The Expert Series on De-Addiction titled Bindas Bol with Dr. Kumar Kamble. Today, we are going to discuss the negative impact and consequences of addiction with Dr. Kumar Kamble

Dr.Kumar Kamble is an expert Psychiatrist, De-addiction Specialist, Sexologist, Speaker, Mental and Sexual Health Educator. He is also associated with the Umang Clinic. He has worked with King Edward Memorial Hospital in the Deaddiction center for 4 years as a Medical Office Coordinator. Based on his rich clinical expertise in de-addiction, we have come up with the next series on De-addiction.

The approach of family members towards addiction 

Dr.Kumar Kamble says, “there are different aspects of addiction. Addiction is considered a familial disease as it not only traps the person suffering from addiction but also their families. Addiction has a negative impact on the mental, physical and social health of individuals. Addition can also cause a negative impact on the families. It is important to understand the family's point of view towards the addiction. There are many relationships in the family. Addiction causes a negative impact on relationships. It impacts the husband-wife relationship and father-children relationship. Nobody likes a person who suffers from addiction. Addiction causes a lot of mental health issues like:

Irritability Anger Frustration  Negative interaction  Disruption in family relations  Hatred Negative behavior Mental issues  Financial crisis  Disruption of family peace Nonsatisfaction of life  Continued stress  Anxiety  Depression  Domestic violence towards kids  Lack of sleep  Constant worry and tension 

This continued tension and stress causes a negative impact on family relations."

The adverse effects of addiction can impact your innocent child. 

Dr.Kamble says, “ Continued tension and worry due to regular addiction can lead to fights and anxiety among the family members. This can lead to negative impacts and trait anxiety among children. The nature of a person suffering from addiction is generally in the form of anger. Kids become more anxious with addicted parents and their development gets affected. If any of the parents are suffering from addiction, there is a negative impact on children. They develop anxiety and threat towards parents due to addiction. The adverse effects of addiction can impact your innocent child. Children think addiction is normal and start indulging in addiction. Addiction is genetic and can be transferred to your kids due to environmental conditions.”

Addiction disrupts everyone’s life 

Dr. Kamble states, “This addiction disrupts the entire life of the family. This creates a negative impact throughout life. For example, there was a female patient who tried to commit suicide as their husband was suffering from addiction. This is an indirect effect of addiction. Addiction leads to a financial crisis, a loss that affects the standard of life and quality of life. This can affect the growth and nutrition of your family and children. The effects of addiction are not only directly addicted but also indirectly affects the families health.”

Counseling for family members is important who is dealing with addiction 

Dr. Kamble explains, “My main primary focus of treatment is the patient suffering from addiction. Also, it is important to pay attention and address the problem of family members. Your close family member might suffer from anxiety and depression. It is important to treat that as well. The main load of treatment and the responsibility of the individual is on their family members. So the health of family members is equally important. If the family members are mentally stable then, they will be able to support the patient who is suffering from addiction.”

Educating the family members is important 

Dr.Kamble says, “Educating the family members is very important for the addiction treatment. They must be aware of the following:

Addiction is a mental health condition  Addiction is long term chronic disease  Addiction needs long term treatment  Addiction has higher chances of relapse and recurrent  Addiction cannot be cured once for and all Addiction can be controlled but cannot be cured to the root cause” 

Helping hands is a must for addiction treatment for families 

Dr. Kamble emphasizes, “Many times, it is observed that a person suffering from addiction is the sole earning member in the family. But, it is possible that due to addiction, he cannot earn and work. It is important to work on social-economic causes of addiction as well. We now need to analyze the next breadwinner for the family. In case of addiction, generally, the housewives and mothers shoulder up and stand to earn their living. We help them by giving job options for the family members. This will help in sharing socio-economic conditions. We suggest these options to many to treat addiction at various roles and levels.” 

Impact of kids due to family member’s addiction 

Dr.Kamble explains, “The following domains gets affected in the child who has been living with the addiction of a parent:

Mental growth like depression, anxiety  Physical growth  Education  Lack of focus and  concentration in studies  Negative mood 

It is important to help children to get their life into normalcy. It is a slow process of transition and helps prepare the family for future relapses. We help them deal with addiction mentally. We should not overlook addiction and its effects. Do be overconfident after treatment of addiction. Be careful of future traps of addiction. This can help you achieve success in addiction treatment. "

(Edited by Dr. Rati Parwani)