Drug Addiction: Disaster For A Married Life - Essay Example

Drug Addiction: Disaster For A Married Life Introduction Marriage is a relationship between two individuals. However, the nature of the relationship between a husband and a wife does not remain limited to the immediate family, but also affect the relationship with children ,extended family relatives, friends and colleagues. Hence, a harmonious marriage is very important for happy and fulfilling lives of people. If people are happy and fulfilled in their personal life, then the society in which they live becomes happy and wholesome. However, if there are problems in the family due to some reason or other, then everyone related to the family gets affected and suffer from emotional and psychological pain. Drug addiction is one such problem which is proving to be poisonous to the peace of the family and hence, to the society. Drug addiction causes immense negative consequences in the life of a person who suffers from addiction and also in the lives of people who are related to that person (Black 19). Drug addiction leads to compulsive behavior, domestic violence due to preoccupation with addiction and loss of control over the life (Black 19). Due to these negative consequences, the married life of the person suffering from drug addictions gets affected severely and the lives of the spouse, children and friends become hell. As the person suffering from drug addiction gives more importance to drugs than any other thing in life , he becomes incapable of maintain his job, his relationships, his responsibility towards his children, his social ties and trust between him and his wife. In this way, drug addiction not only impacts the professional and social life of a person but also ruins his married life. The addiction does not allow him to fulfill his role as a spouse and as a parent successfully. Effects of drug addiction The World Health Organization (1964) has defined drug addiction as: A state, psychic and sometimes also physical resulting from the interaction between a living organism and a drug, characterized by behavioural and other responses that always include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis in order to experience its psychic effects, and sometimes to avoid the discomfort of its absence. Tolerance may or may not be present. (Powell p.81) The definition clearly states that a person who is addicted to drugs, is not able to control his cravings for the drugs even when he realizes that his body can function on every level without the intake of drugs (Powell p.81). The craving for drugs become psychological in nature and the addicts start associating the feeling or relaxation and ‘high’ with the intake of drugs (Powell p.81). This shows that drug addiction is a psychological disease and becomes a compulsive behavior developed by the addict (Powell p.82). According to cognitive-behavioural model, addiction to drugs, smoking and alcohol is adopted by people to cope with the stressful situations in life (Powell p.81). Drug addiction is a maladaptive response to the psychological and emotional needs which are suppressed in the subconscious mind (Powell p.82). A person who is not able to resolve the emotional and psychological conflicts of his life, becomes addicted to drugs and begins to see the intoxication through drugs as an escape from the problems in life. The addiction makes it impossible for him or her to provide love and support to his family. Not only that, but the development of intolerance and irritation in his behavior pattern makes him to behave negatively towards his wife and his children (Black 20). The drug addiction makes him to run away from the responsibilities of job, marriage, parenthood and society. The addiction not only hampers his chances of progress in professional life, but also creates problem in his marital life. Drug addiction and marriage A key to happy marriage is trust and harmony between the husband and the wife. Only a happy couple can produce and grow happy children. The conflict between the couple makes life unbearable not only for the partners but also for their children. Hence, drug addiction, which creates problems of varied nature, proves to be harmful for the peace of the marital relationship and creates an emotional and psychological distance between the couple. Numerous studies have been conducted to research the impact of drug addiction on marital life. The statistics revealed in the studies show a sad picture. Study conducted by Shafer et al. (1994) shows that the level neuropsychological impairment in the male drug addicts directly affects their emotional and marital functioning (Moser and Frantz 64). In a study of 31 married couples, it was found that the drug addiction affected the cognitive functioning of the husband negatively (Moser and Frantz 64). This resulted in behavior pattern of negative communication and increase in the incidences of violence among the couple (Moser and Frantz 64). Drug addiction leads to the impairment of cognitive and neuropsychological functions, which results in the development of the negative behavior pattern (Moser and Frantz 64). Drugs addiction leads to many psychological and physical problems. The addiction to cocaine creates irritability, impotency and loss of sexual desire (Moser and Frantz 64). A study by Grant et al. (2000) revealed that that decision making skills of the drug abusers become poor due to the effect of the drugs on the functioning of the brain (Moser and Frantz 64). The most important thing is that, drug addiction not only risks the health of the abuser but by making him violent and aggressive in behavior, it also creates a threat to the lives of people he interacts with. Studies have revealed that 24 percent of people who were imprisoned for domestic violence were addicted to drugs (Jackson 697). In the study by Wilson et al. (2000), it was found that 21.8 percent of men who attacked their intimate partners were addicted to drugs like marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines (Jackson 697). This shows that drug addiction not only affects the health of the abuser but also becomes a threat to the life of others. In the longitudinal study of the role of the drugs in provoking violence, it was found that the males became extremely violent towards their wives when they were under the influence of alcohol and cocaine (Jackson 697). Wilson et al. (2000) also found that the people addicted to drugs like cocaine and marijuana cause more severe injuries to their partners than the people addicted to alcohol (Jackson 697). Moreover, drug addiction not only affects the life of the spouse but also affects the healthy and positive growth of the children. Drug addiction not only ruin the relationship of addicted parents with their children but also make them vulnerable to addiction through genetic transmission (Black 36). Studies have revealed that “children of alcoholics are more at risk for alcoholism and other drug abuse than children of nonalcoholics” (Black 36). The negative influence of an alcoholic parent on the children makes life hell for the whole family. It has been estimated that “13 to 25 percent of children of alcoholics will become addicted” (Black 35). Research has revealed that children of alcoholics become prone to substance abusing behavior due to the chemical imbalance caused by the genetic transmission (Black 37). All these facts show that being a child of an alcoholic parent is painful and traumatic experience. Moreover, when the addicts suffer from depression and anxiety due to guilt, shame and conflicts, they go into a mode of denial and start blaming others for their frustration and helpless situation (Peele 33). When they are in the mode of denial, rather than accepting that drug addiction has caused this problem, they start resenting their partners and children (Peele 33). The resentment makes it impossible for the family members to communicate and interact with the addict (Peele 33). In this way, without a harmonious relationship between the couple, marriage becomes a hell. Conclusion The repeated and unending episodes of physical and psychological torture at the hands of their drug dependent partners make it difficult for the spouses to live in the marriage. They feel hopeless and depressed. The hopelessness of drug addiction makes them to take a drastic step of ending the marriage. Hence, drug addiction proves extremely disastrous for marriage as it ruins the marriage and leaves a very negative impact on everyone in the family. Work Cited: Black, Claudia. Straight Talk from Claudia Black: What Recovering Parents should tell their Kids about Drugs and Alcohol. MN: Hazelden , 2003. Print. Powell, Jane. Adult Psychological Problems: An Introduction. Ed. Lorna Champion and Mick Power. England: Psychology Press, 2000. Print. Jackson, Nicky Ali (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print. Moser, Rosemary and Frantz, Corrine. Handbook of the Medical consequences of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Ed. Brick, John. New York: The Haworth Press, 2004. Print. Peele, Stanton. Visions of Addiction: Major Contemporary Perspectives on Addiction and Alcoholism. New York: Lexington Books, 1988. Print. Read More