Abstract
Parental alcoholism is a form of child mistreatment, many children who grow up in home with an alcoholic parent or parents become alcoholics later in later. Growing up in an alcoholic home promotes unhealthy family relations that negatively affect a children’s’ development that leave children at risk for psychological disorders in childhood, adolescence, and well into their adulthood. Children with alcoholic parents usually do not have a secure attachment with the alcoholic parent or parents and often grow up to have problems with attachments to others well into adulthood. Children of alcoholics are also more likely to experience social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties …show more content…
Blood and hair test can also be done to test for alcohol usage. The only thing is they won’t work for the drinker who has a drink here and there. Fetal alcohol exposure can be also be treated in uteri now and may prevent, slow or reverse the damage that takes place during pregnancy. (Fetal Alcohol Exposure: Consequences,
Diagnosis and Treatment)
Getting Help
There is help out there both for children living with alcoholics and alcoholics themselves. However, If the addicted parent doesn’t understand they are ill or want to get help, there isn’t much that can be done, they have to be willing to get help to change first. Often an alcoholic will have to hit bottom many times before they realize they have a problem or they are willing to change. Some may never reach this point. For the ones that do there is programs like Al-Anon : a international program founded in 1951 that holds meeting for relatives and friends of alcoholics to share their experience, strength, and hope in order to solve their common problems with alcohol. They have a website where you can look up meeting locations. Alateen is a part of Al-Anon for teenagers