Drug Addiction and Families

Contents: Foreword. 1. What is the problem? 2. Family Journeys of Discovery, Adaptation and Expulsion: Cycles of Response to Drugs in the Family. 3. Distorted Roles and Strained Relationships. 4. Practitioner Responses to Mothers and Fathers, Brothers and Sisters of Problem Drug Users. 5. Parenting in the Midst of a Drug Problem. 6. Children Growing Up with Parents who have Drug Problems. 7. Stepping into the Breach: When the Extended Family Takes on the Care of Children. 8. Proliferating Problems: Exposure to Drugs and Drug Initiation. 9. Practitioner Responses to Drugs in the Home. 10. Conclusion: What Needs to Happen? A Case of Tinkering or Overhaul? References. Subject index. Author index.

The most common and damaging misunderstanding about drug dependancy is that it only concerns the person using the drugs. If we could just fix the addict then everything else would be alright. It is a perception which not only places enormous pressure on the individual who is dependent on drugs but it also ignores the pain experienced by families and loved ones. One of the first lessons I learned as a recovering alcoholic was that what I considered 'my' problem was in fact a problem for a lot of other people as well. The pain and illness spreads out from the addict to encompass partners, children, siblings and friends. The family can find itself caught in a web of denial, shame, anger and sheer bewilderment as the drug user is pulled away from them by the force of addiction.

Marina Barnard has written a powerful book which addresses the crisis faced by families as they attempt to cope with the effects of drug misuse. Her great skill is to blend rigorous research with keen insights and all backed up by a profound humanity. As somebody who knows something of the pain of this territory I cannot recommend her work strongly enough. She both knows and cares - a rare combination in a field where academic studies can too often forget or under-represent the human dimension.