Help for Families | Secondhand Drinking | Codependency
Excessive Alcohol Use – a Leading Cause of Preventable Death
Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death in America. It causes more preventable deaths than opioid overdoses; more preventable deaths than all drug overdose deaths combined. It causes more preventable deaths than car crashes. According to the CDC, “excessive alcohol use is responsible for more than 95,000 deaths in the United States each…
Read MoreHow Does a Person Lose Control of Their Drinking
How does a person lose control of their drinking? How much is too much? What can a person do to regain control – or can they? Readers asking these kinds of questions have risen dramatically as drinking and relapse have escalated during the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s not just readers worried about their own drinking…
Read MoreWhen Drinking Causes Secondhand Drinking – It’s a Problem
“When drinking causes secondhand drinking — it’s a problem” is a concept not widely understood. Yet it’s a problem for nearly 80 million Americans (and hundreds of millions more worldwide). Who are these people? They are the moms, dads, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren…whose loved one’s behaviors change when they drink alcohol. They are the…
Read MoreSubstance Use Disorder Recovery Needs to be a Family Affair
Substance use disorder recovery needs to be a family affair for one simple reason. A person’s substance use disorder (SUD (whether it involves alcohol or other drug) affects nearly every member of a family. Much of my work has been around raising awareness of the little understood fact and the importance of treating both “sides”…
Read MoreScapegoat Abuse in Alcoholic Families – Andrea Ashley
Scapegoat abuse in alcoholic families is not uncommon. Scapegoat is one of the five roles family members may take on when living in dysfunctional or alcoholic families, according to Sharon Martin, LCSW. The others are mascot, lost child, hero and enabler (caretaker). Dr. Tian Dayton provides a portrait of an alcoholic family in her article…
Read MoreTalking to a Child About a Parent’s Drinking – Secondhand Drinking
Talking to a child about a parent’s drinking – Secondhand Drinking – HOW do you do it? How do you sooth a child whose mommy or daddy yells at them or belittles them when they’ve been drinking. How do you explain to a child their daddy and mommy still loves them when you don’t believe…
Read MoreUsing Brain and ACEs Science to Fight Social Challenges
Using brain and ACEs science to fight social challenges has been a theme running through several of my recent Zoom PowerPoint presentations. The social challenges I refer to are juvenile and criminal justice, homelessness, recidivism, substance use and mental health disorders and secondhand drinking. Audiences have included the Sacramento Area Re-Entry Network, Hope Cooperative Sacramento,…
Read MoreCodependents – StrongWilled or Willful? – Darlene Lancer
Codependents – strong-willed or willful? is a question frequent guest author, Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, explores in her post below. As she writes, “A strong-minded person accepts life on life’s terms, which provides a solid basis for constructive, effective action that is well-considered and not compulsive. Having a strong will is having a strong mind.…
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