Addiction can be viewed as a disease attributable to loneliness. Its effects tend to spread outwards from the addict who's most isolated to their immediate family, community and the population at large. The addiction ripple effect follows this pattern in producing foul consequences among the people in its path.
The Ripple Effect of Addiction
Addiction is expensive when its effect is calculated in terms of health costs, lost productivity and crime. The economic cost also doesn't account for the emotional toll the addict's behavior takes on affected people who are in the immediate proximity. Such people, in turn, affect their colleagues due to the behavior generated from to the stress of interaction with addiction.
People actively engaged in drug or alcohol addiction will engage in trends that negatively impact their relationships and marriages, education, employment and finances. Their legal status, personality and health are also dented. Dishonesty, violence, secrecy and misuse of resources are all standard behavior for addicts and directly impact the involved parties.
People who are most affected by the addict's behavior (usually spouses, parents and children) experience this ripple effect in emotional, physical and financial repercussions. This in turn dents their ability to work efficiently. Mixed signals from the addict cause their family members to be skeptical of their motives and reliability.
Long-term exposure to an addict impairs an individual in many ways. The anger, frustration and stress change their external relationships. Taking into account the number of people who are addicted to substances and alcohol, and the probability that every addict directly affects several people, one can say that about a third of the population is a victim of addiction. The vagaries of addiction thus find their way into communities and impact society in various levels.
Many addiction treatment facilities include family therapy in their core programs. To understand addiction, one needs insight into a group dynamic that may enable, foster or neglect addiction - at times simultaneously. Support groups can offer solace to people whose lives are affected by addiction.
Parties Suceptible to the Addiction Ripple Effect
Addicts' kids are the most affected and exhibit the most evident examples of the addiction ripple effect. Such children are usually at an increased risk of succumbing to addiction themselves. This can be attributed to addiction's genetic component. It's proven that predisposition to substances and dependency is inheritable. Additionally, prolonged exposure to an addict's behavior causes stress, dysfunction and other factors that could further put the children's future at risk.
