Why Rehab Professionals consider Addiction(SUD) a Family Disease

Introduction

In this post, we’ll define family diseases, tell you why “Addiction”or “Substance Use Disorder (SUD)” is classified among family diseases and provide best practices for approaching a solution for addiction using the family model. It is important to know this information to reduce the amount of stigma directed at the person struggling with the SUD by the family and to make the members of the family more solution oriented so as not to aggravate the problem. 

Most rehabilitation facilities require a family member or a caretaker to be present when admitting a client and then periodically during the treatment process. This helps the facility to understand the relationships the client has to work with and gives reassurance that the client will return to a better living situation after the rehab treatment because the family member or caretaker will be able to learn a lot more about the problem because they’re present. 

What is a Family Disease?

A family disease is a hereditary disease, passed on from one generation to the next. It resides in the genes that are transferred from a parent to their offspring during the pregnancy period. 

Examples of family diseases are Heart Disease, Asthma, Diabetes (sugar disease), Cancer, Single Gene Disorders.

Why is Addiction Considered a Family Disease?

In many cultures, psychoactive substances (substances that affect the Central Nervous System and cause addiction) are used in ceremonies, celebrations and as part of regular every day proceedings. Some examples are these practices are alcohol used in Ghanaian naming ceremonies and dowry presentation ceremonies (knocking / traditional wedding ceremonies). When these cultural practices come into contact with someone with the genetic predisposition to addiction, the person may contract the disease of addiction.

Besides the fact that Addiction (Substance Use Disorder or SUD) has been proven to be related to genetic dispositions, it has the tendency to affect one or more members of a family unit outside of the person showing the symptoms of addictions.

Most clients go through treatment and realize they may not be able to go back home or interact with their own families because the families have relapse triggers embedded in the way the family operates, we (addiction professionals) like to involve the families in treatment so we can help the family unit modify its operations to be more recovery friendly. Or the family may be using the psychoactive substances regularly in ways that could relapse the person struggling with addiction. In some cases, we find that this person grew up in a household where the substance is regularly used with little to no caution.

Family members may also treat the person struggling with the SUD as if that person is a problem. We use this family model to educate the members of the family on how addiction can be initiated by the genes a person inherits from their parents and this greatly reduces the risk of relapse.

There are other times when the family has been through traumatic events either as a cause of the addiction or prior to the addiction and the reaction of the whole family aggravates the addiction or puts the family on edge any time the person showing the symptoms is present. The family model recommends family therapy which helps each member deal with the trauma and the family heals as a collective unit, rather than ostracize the person with the symptoms.

Conclusion

The key takeaway from this post is that Addiction or Substance Use Disorder doesn’t affect one person, it affects the people around/related to the person struggling with it and it should be treated as such for a lasting recovery. Studies show that addiction and the environment it dwells in have a reciprocal relationship, so correcting the environment helps to prevent/manage addiction and promote recovery. The earlier we include familial interventions into a treatment plan, the better the outcome of the treatment will be.