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There is so much info here regarding alcohol use disorder and demographics

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“Al-Anon's Three Cs removed the blame...” from Al-Anon Family Groups

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Reasons for My Passion Project

Passion Project – Recovery for the Friends & Family Members of Alcoholics 

Why is the topic important to you?  

When I was a kid, my mother rescued a lot of her friends who were drunks and drug addicts and brought them home. As a healthy child, I didn’t get her attention as much as I would have liked, and I grew to believe that I wasn’t lovable. Also, her friends were not always the safest and healthiest people for a child to be around. As the oldest daughter, not only did I raise myself, but I also helped to raise my youngest siblings. I grew up to be very self-sufficient, controlling, emotionally needy, and with low self-esteem since I thought I wasn’t deserving of my parents’ time and attention. Growing up, there was lots of screaming, swearing, and name calling toward us children. To avoid that, I lost myself in books and television. I wanted a happy family when I grew up like the ones I saw on TV and read about in my books.  

I came to Al-Anon when I was married to a man whose drinking bothered me. I was angry and resentful that I was the one responsible and paying the bills. I came, not to get him sober, but to get rid of him but I didn’t want him to be mad at me. This wasn’t the happy family I had dreamed about.  

How is it sociologically relevant?  

Everywhere there are alcoholics whose drinking is out of control, and for their friends and family members, this causes negative effects as a result of the behavior of the alcoholic. 

Who is the public audience that can benefit the most by seeing your project?   

Friends and family members of alcoholics can receive help and support offered by The Al-Anon Family Groups and its members. 

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Passion Project - Alcoholism and Family Recovery, by Suzanne McGoldrick

My passion project is about recovery from the family disease of alcoholism. I am an adult child of adult children of alcoholics. Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics.  My parents grew up with the alcoholism of their respective fathers and the dysfunction and insanity that comes with the disease of alcoholism.  Back in the 1930’s, when my parents were children, recovery from alcoholism was not very successful and many alcoholics ended up in the mental ward of a hospital. The family disease affects all those who are close to an alcoholic.  Parents, spouses, children, grandparents, and friends - all can be affected by the disease in many different ways, not limited to mental illness and familial violence. 

Those who love and care for alcoholics try to manage the disease.  We try to control the drinking and the behavior of alcoholics, but we fail, again and again.  Eventually, we end up mentally and emotionally ill, sick with worry, fear, anger, and resentment. Our inability to control alcohol and its’ effects for the alcoholic in our lives, affects our mind, body, and soul. Eventually, try as we might, we begin to feel helpless and hopeless. Finally, we begin to realize that we too might have become sick and that we need help ourselves.  At first, family members think “it’s not our problem, it’s the alcoholics’ problem, if only the alcoholic would just stop drinking”.  The good news is that there is help available for the family members and friends of alcoholics, The Al-Anon Family Groups (AFG).[i]

In my own recovery process, I have learned that every alcoholic/addict affects at least four people in negative and damaging ways and also, that the family disease of alcoholism passes from one generation to the next, and sometimes it skips a generation, but the disease is always present. In Al-Anon, members learn to hate the disease, but not the alcoholic.  Our program is a spiritual program, not a religious one consisting of twelve steps and twelve traditions, modeled from AA but adapted for us.  We have a different perspective than the alcoholic does. 

Some of the effects of the family disease of alcoholism are abuse in all of its many manifestations.  Childhood exposure to alcoholism includes but is not limited to adolescent substance abuse, self-esteem issues, an exposure to family violence.[v]  Domestic and family violence is just one major result of the family disease of alcoholism, cutting across all classes, races, religions, and cultures resulting in mental and physical wounds which are often permanent. Victims often refrain from seeking help because they fear further injury or death.  Police rarely intervene, reflecting an outlook that domestic violence is somehow a private family problem rather than a criminal issue. In truth, domestic violence victims have few places to turn. The criminal justice system, including police, prosecutors, and judges, oftentimes are too slow to respond to this problem. An estimated 3 to 4 million American women are battered each year by their husbands or male partners.   

[i] Al-Anon Family Groups, www.al-anon.org

[ii] AA History, https://www.aa.org/aa-timeline

[iii] NIH, https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/understanding-alcohol-use-disorder

[iv] AFG History, https://al-anon.org/for-members/wso/archives/history/

[v] Ritter, J., Stewart, M., Bernet, C., Coe, M., & Brown, S. A. (2002). Effects of childhood exposure to familial alcoholism and family violence on adolescent substance use, conduct problems, and self-esteem. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15(2), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014803907234 

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What is Alcoholism?

Alcoholism is when a person who is addicted to alcohol, can no longer stop drinking, even when and if they want to. The alcoholic/addict may stop drinking for a time, but almost always the craving returns and their drinking begins again though even more pronounced, and it can become a lifelong struggle.  Most alcoholics don’t want to stop drinking until their lives or health are severely impaired by their drinking. Even then, when they do want to stop drinking, they find that they can’t without help.  Recovering alcoholics themselves, admit that there are only three options available to an alcoholic – insanity, death, or sobriety. There is also help for the alcoholic.  One of the most successful programs I've come to know for an alcoholic to get sober is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Members of AA themselves learn that the disease can be arrested, but not cured.  In 1939, Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, was a struggling alcoholic, seeking sobriety after being hospitalized and in a mental ward, was visited by an alcoholic friend who had found sobriety. One alcoholic helping another alcoholic. (AA timeline)[ii] 

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH), Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Medical professionals suggest that alcoholism is caused by a genetic trait or even an imbalance in the brain. It is a spectrum disorder and can be mild, moderate, or severe and encompasses the conditions that some people refer to as alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, or the colloquial term alcoholism. AUD can cause lasting changes in the brain that make patients vulnerable to relapse. The good news is that no matter how severe the problem may seem, most people with AUD can benefit from treatment with behavioral therapies, medications, or both.[iii]

As early as 1939, the friends and family members of alcoholics went to AA meetings themselves. One day, Bill W. asked his wife, Lois, if she wanted to go to a meeting with him and she told him “Damn your old meetings!” and threw a shoe at him.  Lois realized then that she was filled with anger and resentment and that she too, needed help.  Al-Anon History.[iv]  Al-Anon was co-founded in 1951, 16 years after the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous on June 10, 1935, by Lois W. and Anne B. There is help and there is hope for those of us who have the family disease. 

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#NIAAA: Alcohol Misuse Among College Students—What Can Parents Do?

Some negative side effects of binge drinking often include assault, sexual assault, drunk driving, domestic abuse

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"The Traits of an Adult Child of Dysfunction." | Amanda Delaney | TEDxDu...

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Alcoholics Anonymous: Why I changed my mind about AA

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Sometimes having a drink seems so natural and easy - but is it really?

If you think drinking too much is a personal matter, ask an alcoholic’s family how they feel about it.

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In Al-Anon, I've heard it said that we are going to the hardware store for a loaf of bread. Same thing...Been here, done that

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Passion Project - Addiction Alcoholism and Family Recovery 

Alcoholism and drug addiction are sociological issues that many people are affected by, creating many problems not only for the addict but for those who close to the addict.   

Addiction comes in many forms; alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, sex, and now, even social media.  This particular project is for those of us who love alcoholics and addicts. 

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"The impacts of growing up with the family disease of alcoholism," from ...

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Passion Project - Addiction Issues Alcoholism and Family Recovery 

Alcoholism kills. Post from Facebook, Fri., Dec. 1, 2023 

For recovery from alcoholism, one simple and successful program is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) where one alcoholic helps another. 

For those of us who have been affected by someone else’s drinking, there is help and hope for us too. Recovery from the family disease of alcoholism. Al-Anon Family Groups website 

(picture from Al-Anon page on Facebook)  

*1 in 5 US adults has been harmed by someone’s alcoholism. Al-Anon provides support to anyone affected by the disease of alcoholism. Al-Anon Family Groups, Facebook 

Al-Anon is for the friends and family members of alcoholics.  Parents, spouses, children, grandparents, and friends - all can be affected by the disease in many different ways.   

In learning about the disease of alcoholism, I was encouraged to go to open Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings to learn from the alcoholics themselves and I discovered that the disease passes from one generation to the next and sometimes, the disease skips a generation - as it did with me.   

I am an adult child of adult children of alcoholics. Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics.  My parents grew up with the alcoholism of their respective fathers and the dysfunction and insanity that comes with the disease of alcoholism.  Back in the 1930’s, when my parents were children, recovery from alcoholism was not very well known to be successful and many alcoholics ended up in a mental ward of a hospital. 

At first, I thought “it’s not my problem, it’s the alcoholics’ problem, if only the alcoholic would just stop drinking” then I could be happy.  

Those who care for alcoholics try to manage the disease in varying ways.  We try to control the behavior of alcoholics, we try to manage the disease, but we fail, again and again.  Eventually, we too end up mentally and emotionally ill, sick with worry, fear, anger, and resentment. Our inability to control alcohol and its’ effects for alcoholics affects our mind, body, and soul. Eventually, try as we might, we begin to feel helpless and hopeless. Finally, we begin to realize that we too have become sick with the disease and that we need help ourselves.  The good news is that there is help available for us, The Al-Anon Family Groups.