Help! My Parents are Addicted to Meth - Recovery Treatment Substance Abuse

How Can I Stop My Parents from Using Meth?

Dealing with parents addicted to meth can be a sad and challenging situation. Addiction is a tough thing for anyone to have to go through. The effects can take a person’s life professionally, physically, financially, and personally. A meth addict’s main focus becomes to get high each day by any means necessary. With that being the top priority, everything else is secondary. When a child has the situation of a parent using drugs every day, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty for them.

Children are resilient and quick to pick up on things, but when they figure out something is wrong, it can put them in a bad place. With a parent addicted to meth, there is often a lot of neglect. For example, a mother might forget to pick their son from school, or a father leaving his kids at home for hours without anything in the fridge. Our treatment team provides resources for rehab to people in all stages of addiction in the Savanah, GA area. Call us at (912) 214-3867, our professionals are available to help your parents recover and become the parents you need.

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What is Meth and its Effects on Parenting?

Methamphetamine, otherwise known as meth, is one of the more popular drugs used all over the United States. The substance is inexpensive and can also be manufactured in homes. The ingredients used to produce meth are available in rural areas, such as the anhydrous ammonia used by farmers as a fertilizer. Meth is potent and highly addictive and serves as a stimulant that affects the central nervous system. The high or reward is an experience of a rush and euphoria. The typical side effects include losing appetite, tiredness, high energy, and alertness.

The high lasts considerably longer than that of cocaine. Continued use can cause serious health problems that affect the brain, lungs, heart, and kidneys. The psychiatric effects include psychosis, depression, rapid mood changes, irritability, out-of-control rages, and violent behavior. Other effects include paranoia, extreme irritability, and heightened sexual arousal. Users can go on days-long highs, followed by days of sleep. While the person goes through the effects, it can become dangerous for their child.

When the daily grind of being an adult and a parent is too much, they often turn to a substance to escape reality. Parents lose sight of responsibility; a parent can disappear for hours and even days to get high. This situation often forces kids to fend for themselves. Parents often use the money to get high and not provide and sometimes a family can end up homeless. A parent can also manipulate the child into stealing for them to fund their meth habit. These actions and behaviors parents model can lead to a child living a life of addiction and crime. Children that live with an addicted parent who uses meth may feel the responsibility is on them to save their parents and themselves.

What a Child Goes Though with Parents Addicted to Meth

What children of addicted parents go through on a daily is heartbreaking. Drug addicted parents effects children powerfully. They suffer from neglect and abuse regularly. They also witness substance abuse firsthand and even criminal activities. Kids may look after their younger siblings and even take care of their parents that are under the influence. Addicted parents show inconsistently as far as showing affection and living a responsibility.

When children of addicts get placed in foster care they can have common characteristics. They experience signs of trauma that include nightmares and anxiety. Children often lack knowing the regular routines of family life. The children in foster homes can have adjustment issues, especially during bedtime and mealtimes. They may have trouble with rules and anything having to do with adults being in charge.

Most children deal with serious self-esteem issues and often act out in school. They also have a lot of trouble socializing and in their studies. The child of addicted parents often become addicts themselves because that was all they were around growing up. Some children end up in foster care or with other family members. Wherever the child ends up, the guardians must have patience and understanding.

A child impacted by parents addicted to meth could have adjustment issues that include hoarding food, angry outburst, and staying distant from adults. They also experience trust issues, as their parents have let them down. Being in a caring and supportable environment can open the door for the child to heal and try to live life without addiction. If the child is not in the right living situation, it can potentially lead to future addiction and mental issues. Programs exist to help children in these situations.

How to Approach a Parent that Addicted to Meth

Approaching anyone about addiction is a tricky situation. Most of the time, fear keeps a child afraid to reach out for help. The goal of the child is to get their parents’ help to stop their addiction once and for all. One of the worst fears a child has is being without their parents. When a parent is deep in the weeds of meth addiction, there can be a lot of dysfunction and uncertainty. A child has to grow up a lot faster because they must assume responsibility for their parents, brothers, and sisters.

When a child has to deal with a parent that is a meth addict, there is a lot of uncertainty. Talking to the parent first should be the first option. Addiction is like any other disease and has ramifications if a person turns a blind eye to it. When it comes to confronting a parent about their meth addiction, it’s like walking on eggshells. It takes love, compassion, and understanding, and courage to approach a parent. It is essential to ask questions but not aggressively.

Questions to ask parents can include:

When did you first start using meth?
How much do you use?
Where do you get the drugs?
What’s the feeling like when you are on it?
And how do you feel off it?

Questions like these encourage parents to open up and talk about their struggles with addiction. Asking these questions is just the start. If that does not work, it may be time to enlist the help of the professionals and stage an intervention.

How to Get a Parent to Stop and Seek Treatment

Approaching anyone about addiction is a tricky situation. Asking a person to stop their bad habit is a challenge for anyone. It can be even more so for a child asking a parent. Most of the time, fear keeps a child afraid to reach out for help. Unfortunately, sometimes it is not that easy to talk to a parent about their addiction. The parent can be on the defensive and deny that they have an addiction. It can also be a potentially violent situation. When the child has done their best to get their parent to stop, sometimes it takes an army to get the job done. The matter could call for adults the child can trust and potentially law enforcement.

When approaching a parent about their meth addiction does not work, the child has no choice but to tell another adult about the situation. In some scenarios, a child could reach out to a teacher or a parent of a friend. For a child dealing with parents that are addicted to meth, it takes a lot of courage for a child to open up. It can become a gamble for them as they can be taken away from their parents and put into foster care as a worst-case scenario. Sometimes that situation is the best thing for a child to get back to normalcy again.

When a child collaborates with a family, teachers, or family friends to address their parent meth addiction it may lead to staging an intervention. An intervention has a 90 percent success rate in getting addicts to come to terms with their addiction. An interventionist often leads the intervention and is a vital tool for helping convince an addict to check into a treatment program. A person checking into a treatment program and getting drug counseling for parents could save their relationship with their children and their life. Addiction takes so much from a person, but treatment for meth addiction can save it and make it better again.

There is a Better Tomorrow for You and Your Parents

There is a stigma on the label of being an addict. Addiction is a progressive disease that is like a tornado hitting a small town. There is hope if you have a parent addicted to meth. A new dawn is here, and the daily struggle your parent is facing is treatable. There are resources for drug rehab treatment in the Savanah area. Fighting addiction takes a lot of work, but they do not have to do it alone. It takes commitment, as well as forming better and productive habits. If your mother or father is addicted to meth, it may be time to address the issue. Maybe you have done everything you can for them, now is the time to turn to professionals and stage an intervention. The good news for you or someone you care about is that there is that chance of redemption and a new life. With the right plan in place, addiction does not stand a chance!

The first step towards facing addiction is admitting you have one. The next step is acting. There is more support available to people who have a plan of action. With treatment, you will learn to live a life that is positive and addiction free. Admitting to having an addiction is the first step towards getting clean and sober. Our treatment team provides resources for rehab in the Savanah, GA area for all levels of addiction. Whether your parents have only started displaying signs of dependency or persistently abuse meth, it is not too late to call (912) 214-3867. Making the call can change your life for the better.

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