Traditionally treatment has focused on individuals, but at Addaction we try to look at how the whole family is affected – and the support children and parents need. Sometimes substance abusers are unaware that their use has an effect on others and realising that can be extremely motivating.
I spent Monday and Tuesday in Manchester where we brought together a lot of drug and alcohol workers for a training course called Thinking Family – the Way Forward. A common factor underpinning substance misuse can be family issues and I am used to individuals being guarded and defensive. There is a fear that we might report them to social services, and that their children will be taken away if problems are admitted. In Manchester I also worked with a mother whose son had died from heroin use in his 20s who is now volunteering for us. She says that she didn't know how to help him and disowned him and pushed him away.
On Wednesday I was in Luton where we have a needle exchange project. Steroid users use these services but don't always recognise problems or want help. Steroids can cause mood swings or increase aggression so we provide training for our drug and alcohol workers; we need to phrase things in a sensitive manner, create a good environment, talk to people in an open fashion.
Thursday I spent in Walsall at a parents and carers support and education group. I dealt with a recently unemployed young person who is a heavy binge drinker and often uses cocaine. He would come home at night heavily intoxicated, cause huge rows, assault his parents, be arrested. The next morning he had no recollection of this. He's in a horrible cycle, prompted by the boredom and frustration of not being able to get a job. I have to really hammer home the effects of what he's doing, the need to start communicating with parents, identifying bad influences from peer groups. His parents feel isolated from his situation but if you get dialogue going between them, both sides feel more positive.
It's particularly important to work with family and children's services. Services such as Sure Start, which provides childcare and extra support, are often accessed by middle-class parents who are more often employed, have better access to transport and information about the services, and are more likely to ask for help. Our clients are more often unemployed with an inbuilt fear of getting help. We can be a conduit for disadvantaged families. I've seen a lot of people, from all sorts of backgrounds, make a lot of progress. We live, however, in austere times: funding is not everywhere and there is worry about whether people will have the time and resources to do the best they can.
