Mothers and addiction the hard choice between children and treatment

Mothers and Addiction – The Hard Choice between Children and Treatment

Parenting is never easy and parents in America will often find that raising kids is one of the most difficult challenges that they will have to face in their lifetime.

Parents in America who have the scary monster that is drug or alcohol addiction looming over them at all times know very well just how difficult parenting can become.

When addiction becomes a normal part of your everyday life, then it should go without saying that virtually all aspects of your day to day life are affected (almost certainly for the worst).

The negative effects of your drug or alcohol addiction can creep their way into your job, your hobbies, and most importantly even your family.

How Can Drug or Alcohol Addiction Affect the Relationship between Mother and Child?

Mothers generally have strong protective instincts when it comes to their children but addiction and these protective instincts don’t often work well together.

On one hand, drug or alcohol addiction can cause mothers to become neglectful or abusive to their kids. On the other hand, this does not always have to be the case – some mothers may still interact with their kids as per usual but instead they may also neglect getting treatment for their drug or alcohol addiction so that they can protect or take care of their kids.

Regardless of how addiction plays out for mothers and their children, one thing will always remain constant – the end result will always be harmful to everyone involved.

While some people would probably argue that in some cases that allowing a mother that is plagued by alcohol or drug addiction to stay with her children might actually be a good thing; this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The initial phases of addiction might seem manageable (or even harmless) in a lot of scenarios. However, it is worth nothing that – if left untreated – virtually all cases of drug or alcohol addiction will eventually create real problems in the addict’s life, affecting themselves and the people around them.

American Mothers and Addiction – The Single Mother Dilemma Most of the time when people argue that mothers should be allowed to stay with their children regardless of addiction; they are usually talking about single mothers. Why? Well, as the term suggests, single mothers are usually the only person that their children depend on and/or are reliant upon.

Empathy usually kicks in whenever anyone is faced with the thought of tearing a child (or worse multiple children) away from their mother.

It is also worth noting that – based on a mixture of anecdotal evidence and statistical findings – single mothers are at a significantly higher risk of abusing alcohol or drugs and subsequently getting addicted as well.

The reason for this is likely because of the link between stress and substance abuse. Single mothers are more likely to be more stressed than other mothers because of their situation and are therefore more likely to fall into the clutches of substance abuse.

What Do the Statistics Say About American Mothers and Addiction?

If you take a look back at the statistics for Drug & alcohol Addiction Treatment center just a few decades ago, you’ll find

that there are some noticeable differences between the statistics today. By far one of the most mentioned changes is the fact that the amount of people seeking treatment has been noticeably growing over time.

However, something that is not focused on quite often is the fact that just a few decades ago the ratio of female substance abuser to male substance abuser was at one point actually one to four – one female abuser to approximately four male abusers. As the years have gone by, there has been quite a lot of progress in terms of gender equality in many aspects of life – and it seems as if substance abuse is no different. The playing field for addiction is now basically equal, with approximately one female addict for each male addict.

Mothers are however far less likely to actually get treatment compared to fathers. Female addicts have often indicated that social stigma and concern for their children are the main reasons why they are scared of getting treatment.