If you have addiction in your family, whether it is your own, your spouse or another family member, it is crucial to address it appropriately and matter-of-factly with your children. Of course it’s easier and more comfortable to skirt the issue, but since addiction can be an inherited family trait, it’s important to be honest with your kids.
You want to set your children up for success and help them avoid addiction problems of their own. So how should you go about discussing addiction with children?
Here are a few tips to help you have this important conversation with your children.
Many children never have conversations like this about addiction, which could end up really hurting them in the long run. If someone with an addiction is close to them, you don’t want it to be a confusing, mysterious secret.
Especially once that person has taken steps to recovery, it is much more beneficial for children to know what’s going on. Many recovery programs will help you explain addiction to your children and work with family members to heal. For example, the health care professionals at PSI can give you even more tools to use through our treatment programs. Find out more here.
So take the time to have a conversation about addiction with your children. If they see a family member acting erratically or disappearing for a time or have even lost a family member to addiction, they need to know what’s going on. This way, they’ll have the tools to handle any potential problems with addiction later on in their own lives.
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