The correlation between alcohol and drug abuse in domestic violence is the topic of today’s post by guest author, Karen Corcoran Walsh.

Karen Corcoran Walsh is the owner and co-founder of Inspirations for Youth and Families, a premier teen rehab. Karen also owns and runs the Cove Center for Recovery, an adult addiction treatment center. Karen has appeared on the Dr. Phil Show and will be a guest on the Ask Dr. Nandi, a nationally syndicated afternoon medical show this fall. She has also been featured on a host of other television programs and radio shows focused on teen behavior and substance abuse including “Teen Talk.”

The Impact of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Domestic Violence By Karen Corcoran Walsh

Domestic violence victims are caught in a vicious cycle of trauma and fear – often living in an idled state – unable to break away from their perpetrator -sometimes for fear of their life and sometimes for fear of the safety of their friends and family.

The effect and impact it could have – especially if the perpetrator has made threats of violence and physical harm to the victim – often psychologically wears them down to the point where the person feels incapable of functioning independent of the relationship.

The perpetrator keeps the toxic relationship afloat by fluctuating from an abusive state to one where he or she uses rewards in the form gifts, terms of endearment, tokens of affection, and any other method which provides the victim a source of validation for staying in such an abusive relationship. This “rollercoaster” like existence places great uncertainty in the victim’s psyche and they become unable to discern the actual state or condition of the relationship

Victims of domestic violence are rarely on equal footing with the perpetrator. The relationship quickly turns from love to hate or reward to punishment keeping the victims in a perpetual state of flux. On top of this, in many instances the victim is undergoing other stressors in their life that contribute to their emotional torment.

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse component

Some of these stressors can be alcohol or drugs. While both forms of substance abuse and/or addiction do not directly cause domestic violence – there is a statistical correlation between the two conditions. What studies of domestic violence have found is that there is frequent high incidence of alcohol and other drug use by perpetrators during domestic abuse. The reality is that not only do batterers tend to abuse drugs and alcohol, but the probability that victims of domestic violence will turn to alcohol and drugs to cope with the abuse increases as well. Thus the cycle perpetuates.

Are Families a Breeding Ground for Domestic Violence?

As a founder of Inspirations for Youth and Families – one of the leading teen treatment centers in the nation, we have found a strong correlation between an adolescent turning to drugs and alcohol after being subjected or witness to domestic violence in their own home. The stories we hear on a continual basis are downright shocking.

If these feelings of despair are not addressed at an early age, these teens are on a track to replicate the same mistakes their parents made and commit similar acts of domestic violence when they grow up and have relationships of their own.

A teen alcohol and drug addiction treatment center can be viewed as the front lines for protecting these teens from reenacting the same crimes that they have witnessed in their childhood. It is common for teens to turn to alcohol and drugs to shield themselves from the pain of living in a household where domestic abuse is a part of the very fabric of their family. Once addiction sets in they are vulnerable to continue the cycle of violence that has pained them throughout their childhood.

To better illustrate how a teen can get stuck in the domestic violence cycle, let’s take the story of a teen, who was raised in a household where drugs were commonplace and when he reached 12-years-of-age became a domestic violence perpetrator. Since this is a real life example, I have to warn you that the subject matter is disturbing, but portrays how substance abuse can easily lead to a life as a domestic violence perpetrator.

Ryan’s Story
I pretty much grew up around drugs my whole life. My mom’s family were all drug addicts and alcoholics and my uncle was a gang member. The first time I saw a family member do drugs was when I was seven years-old. I was riding in a car with my grandmother and she took out a joint and started smoking it in the car. One day my grandmother got drunk and high and threw me in a pool and I almost drowned

When growing up I had to go to three middle schools because I kept getting kicked out for fighting. I started fighting with people who looked at me the wrong way. When I was in seventh grade my 17-year-old sister got pregnant and everyone around school started talking bad about her to me calling her names. And my sister means everything to me especially since my brother died.

There was one time when I was getting on the school bus to go home and this 18-year-old called my sister a whore on the bus so I grabbed his head and smashed it through the window. I was fighting 17 and 18 year olds when I was 12 and I got beat up because they were older than me. One time my rage got so bad that I tried to kill my sister’s boyfriend. I went after him with a knife, but my dad stopped me.

Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

As a society, we don’t tolerate violent crimes against innocent victims and we should apply the same standards for domestic violence whether you are a famous athlete or the guy next door. Domestic violence is an age old problem. We need to change the narrative and educate the public about domestic violence. We also need to understand the connection between substance abuse and domestic violence. Until we get to this point, domestic violence will continue to soar and become another one of those neglected mental health conditions that exist today.