ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDICTION. A FORM OF ABANBDONMENT

Alcohol and drug addiction are forms of abandonment. A parent or loved one need not pack up and leave forever in order to abandon thier loved ones. The pain and absences of an addict on thier family are numerous. When a parent who is an addict cannot be trusted to be there for thier siblings they are abandoning them. When an addicted parent breaks a trust with thier children by not showing up to cook dinner or does not do the laundry, or is not there at night to show love and support because they are passed out from drinking, they are in fact abandoning thier family. When a mother tells her her children that she will be right back because she needs to go grocery shopping and then stops at the bar all night to get drunk, she is in fact abandoning her children. Her children cannot trust her word, she is in fact physically and mentally not there for them. So she has in fact abandoned them. A parent needs to do more than just supply a house for shelter and food in order to be a good parent, a parent needs to be there and be trusted to be there. A parent who is an addict is not there for thier children when needs arise, small and large needs.

Abandonment comes in many forms

An addicted parent often times abuses and neglects ther children in ways they do not even realize. When a parent beats a child the parent is abandoning a trust they are supposed to have with that child. Any form of harm a parent inflicts on a child is an abandonment of protections for that child. Alcohol and drug addiction is a major contributor to most childhood abandonment in more ways than the addicted parent realizes. The problems associated with alcohol and drug addiction are very far reaching and numerous.