Reaching Out: who do you talk to when substance abuse affects your family?

Abstract

Family members of people who abuse legal and illegal psychoactive substances are drawn into a world that they have limited control over. For many, the strength of family connection creates a desire and an obligation to do whatever they can to prevent their relative from a, seemingly, self destructive course of action. Until recently, most attention by researchers and professionals in the alcohol and drug rehabilitation field has focused on how family members contribute to the aetiology of the problem or support the substance abusing person firstly into treatment and then to support their recovery. Over the last twenty years attention to the multiple negative effects on family members has gained some recognition, and alcohol and drug services have made efforts to be more inclusive of family members, but with limited success. This thesis explores the barriers that family members experience in utilising support services when a relative develops an intense relationship with a substance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Auckland and surrounding towns with nine family members. The study is based on a social understanding of substance problems using a grounded theory methodology with a social constructionist influence. The responses from family members suggest that they are often initially unaware of their relative’s growing relationship with psychoactive substances, but notice changes in behaviour that they attempt to understand and accommodate. When substance abuse is identified as the cause of negative behaviour change, family members may attempt to seek help outside of the family resources from a variety of sources in the community. Family members sought solutions from a wide range of resources, increasing their knowledge and competence in dealing with a myriad of difficulties as they continued to maintain a relationship with their substance abusing relative. In situations where substance abuse became a long term reality, family members developed strategies that minimised the impact on their lives and allowed them to maintain a connection with their relative. Participants’ accounts of their process offer a different view from that which is often portrayed in the literature as negative. Although the family members in this research did not engage with any formal service for a number of reasons they all developed a strategy that maintained a relationship with their relative.