How Have You Been Impacted by Your Loved One’s Substance Use?
Living with a loved one’s substance use can take a toll on our own physical, emotional, and mental health. These lists can serve as self-assessment tools, allowing you to reflect on the ways you might be impacted by a loved one’s addiction. By honestly acknowledging the symptoms in this checklist, you can gain insight into your overall well-being and take steps toward managing it.
Have you experienced any of the following?
- Physical impacts (e.g., sleep changes, appetite changes, headaches, decrease in exercise, increase in substance use, other medical concerns)
- Mental health impacts (e.g., increased depression or anxiety, inability to cope, traumatic events)
- Impacts to thinking and reasoning (e.g., preoccupation, withdrawal, denial, confusion, lack of clarity, fogginess)
- Emotional impacts (e.g., feeling overwhelmed, stress, resentment, grief, sadness, anger, hopelessness, despair)
- Relational impacts (e.g., increased conflict, isolation, lying, secret-keeping, loneliness, unhealthy amount of focus primarily on substance user)
- Other _________
Have you found yourself doing any of the following?
- Protecting
- Keeping secrets
- Making excuses
- Lying
- Breaking your values
- Avoiding people
- Financially bailing out your loved one
- Blaming others or self
- Threatening
- Covering up/cleaning up messes
- Rescuing
- Giving up or losing hope
- Ignoring the problem
- Feeling like a failure
- Losing yourself/not prioritizing your needs
- Other _________
What are two behaviors from the “Have you found yourself . . .” list that YOU are most motivated to change? Why?
© 2023 Hazelden Publishing
The Daily Pledge is a free, online social community, made possible by the Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy, that provides a source of support and fellowship to those touched by or concerned about the disease of addiction. The Daily Pledge provides healthy daily activities on the home page, which are viewable to all who might benefit from seeing others "recover out loud." This community's members include both people with addiction and family and friends of people with addiction. Our experience is that people with diverse experiences are able to help each other in unique and valuable ways. Learn more about the community by exploring the pages linked in the menu.
