The effects of drug abuse on a person’s family.
Nancy Kiger
SPC1010 - Presentation Skills - OL08
Theresa White
2/18/2011

The effects of drug abuse on a person’s family.
As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser. Effects may vary depending on family structure, manifesting differently in individual family members; According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse both alcohol and drugs can have dramatic negative effects on a developing fetus. They have been linked with premature birth, decreased head circumference, brain functioning difficulties and low
My parents adopted them to keep them from being separated in the foster care system. After raising 15 children of their own they should have been retiring and instead they were raising my children and coping with all of the problems that arose with them because of my addiction. Children aren’t the only ones that suffer from depression and other psychiatric disorders due to substance abuse. Many addictions stem from the person being depressed.
Other medical issues can arise from substance abuse; I contracted HIV as well as Hepatitis B while in my addiction. Studies show that HIV was typically connected with injection drug use and needle sharing. However, this view underestimates the impact that drug abuse can have on spreading HIV and AIDS through the dangerous risk behaviors it engenders. Drug and alcohol intoxication affect judgment and can lead to risky sexual behaviors that put people in danger of contracting or transmitting HIV. In addition, substance abuse may facilitate the progression of HIV infections by further compromising the immune system. While in my addiction my immune system was compromised for the simple fact that I neglected to take my antiviral drugs and came really close to having full blown aids. I now take my medications regularly and am almost to the point that I am undetectable. I am unsure if I contracted these diseases through sharing needles or unprotected sex, what I am sure of is that I wouldn’t be dealing with it