When parents are dealing with a child who has a substance abuse problem, one of the first things a counselor will advise them to do is to stop enabling their child. What is an enabler? This is essentially anyone who makes it easier for an addict to obtain or use their substance of choice or doesn’t allow the person to face consequences. In the case of the parent, this usually means looking the other way while their child uses drugs or alcohol.
Enabling your child is as harmful to you as it is to your child because it leaves you to suffer the consequences of your child’s substance abuse. Instead of the child facing the problem of lacking money to buy their substance, the parent provides the money and suffers the financial hardships that go along with addiction. In doing so, the parent prevents the child from reaching rock bottom, which is the point at which most addicts finally seek help voluntarily.
If your child is struggling with a substance abuse problem, it’s great if you want to help them. That would be the right thing to do. What you don’t want to do is put yourself in a situation where you are enabling their addictive behavior. Have you asked yourself this one important question: “Am I an enabler?”
The following information is going to focus on how you acting as an enabler could cause problems for you and your child. It’s also important to note that any mention of the term child refers to the relationship not the person’s age.
