Substance misuse

The affect of a parent’s use of drugs on their child

A parent’s dependency on drugs and alcohol can impact their child’s physical and emotional wellbeing. It can impact their development and safety. Some impacts of a parent’s use of drugs on their child include:

  • Abuse and neglect
  • Poor physical and mental health
  • development of behaviours in later life, for example using alcohol and drugs at an early age, a sign that they will copy
  • poor attendance at school due to poor caring responsibilities
  • poor school performance
  • involvement in anti-social behaviour

Time and money

Substance misuse takes up a great deal of time, time that could be spent bonding with and caring for your growing child. Spending more time engaging with substances means that you are absent from your child’s life and can count as neglect. This can cause an emotional distance between you and your child and the relationship you have with them can break down.

As well as the amount of time that can go into substance misuse issues, it also costs a lot of money. People with dependency issues can spend thousands of pounds of drugs and alcohol. This can cause financial struggles in the family, debts may fall to family members and children can go without essential items and food.

Employment

Using drugs and alcohol excessively may mean that you are at risk of losing your job. It could be that your attendance at work drops or you have shown up to work under the influence. Your employer will not like this and may consider ending your employment, putting you into even more financial hardship.

Where to get help

If you’re not sure where to for help, a GP is a good place to start. They can talk with you about the problems you’re having and help with getting you into treatment.

A GP may offer you treatment at their practise or they may refer you to a local drug service.

If you’re not comfortable with talking to a GP you can go to your local drug treatment service yourself.

Visit the FRANK website to find support near you - https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/find-support-near-you

If you’re struggling to find the right sort of advice you can call the FRANK drugs helpline on 0300 123 6600 and they can talk to you about the different options you have.

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Substance misuse

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