How. The. Family. Is Affected.
1 The Family's Obsession:
The family becomes obsessed with making the alcoholic stop drinking. Children become neglected, friends are dropped and the non-alcoholic spends most of his/her time trying to change the alcoholic.
2 The Family's Anxiety:
The family worries that the alcoholic will get into trouble due to drinking so they cover for the alcoholic by doing his/her work, paying bills, lying for the alcoholics mistakes and cleaning up the alcoholics messes.
3 The Family's Anger:
Due to frustration at the alcoholics behaviour and their powerlessness to change it the family becomes angry with the alcoholic and also blame themselves and each other for the drinking problem. This leads to arguments between all members of the affected family.
4 The Family's Denial:
The alcoholic denies that he/she has a drinking problem and that help is needed for the sickness to be arrested. The family tries to hide the problem from friends, relative's etc and start to think that the alcoholic is behaving deliberately wrong.
