One of the most painful situations that a person can go through is seeing a family member or loved one destroying themselves because of addictions. But it is even more difficult when you not only see them from time to time, but you live with them. Having an addict (or alcoholic) at home can become a hell that not many can escape. Many complicated situations are experienced and generally affective and emotional problems arise. We find that addictions (of any kind) indirectly affect the entire family. Financial problems, violence, abandonment are created; there is a lot of mistrust and disorder takes over everything. In short, the family ends up paying the price of the addiction. The helplessness to want to help the addicted family member and the failure of many attempts on the part of the family members can lead to despair. Many family members feel guilty about what is happening to their addict and this also leads them to depression. They forget something very important: their emotional, mental and spiritual health. Addictions can affect the entire family, just like when a virus spreads and makes people who are close to the sick person sick. The family member usually does not see this. They do not realize that the problem is also affecting them and they usually refuse to accept the fact that they have an addict at home. It is very easy for the family member to think that their addict does not have any problems and they start to see their addiction as something normal and this ends up affecting them in the long run. An example is when the husband no longer wants to spend time with the family or when he no longer goes to work; when the son is having very drastic changes in behavior or starts to come home very late or not coming home to sleep. These are some very obvious signs and despite this, the family continues to deny that there is a problem. Many family members take a long time to accept this situation and generally spend their time justifying their addict. In fact, many times it is the family member who spoils the addict and solves his problems. The addict constantly justifies it and when he realizes that this has gotten out of control, it is very difficult for him to accept it and he usually blindfolds himself and does not want to see the reality. The decision to consume and continue with the addiction will always be the addict's own, but it is very normal for the family member to become codependent on the addict. The addict gets on a train that is going downhill and is destined for destruction if it does not change direction. The whole family gets on this train and if the family member does not get off the train, it will crash along with the addict. The family member who gets off the train learns to let go of the addict, that is, to let him hit rock bottom. Getting off the train also means asking for help and knowing your own illness. People usually take refuge in a psychologist or even a spiritual guide, and that is fine, but usually the psychologist or spiritual guide sends them to Al Anon groups. In the Al Anon groups they help the families of the addict (any type of addiction). They do this by practicing the Twelve Steps of AA, offering comfort, understanding and encouraging them to face their situation with courage and wisdom. The storm of addiction destroys everyone around them and if we do not trust in the means that God gives us to get ahead, it will be very difficult to recover the emotional, mental and spiritual health that is lost when we have an addicted family member. Let us remember that God never abandons his children and that he is not indifferent to the suffering of his children. He always takes responsibility, directly or indirectly, and provides the means to return calm to our lives. There are many places that can help, such as the Church and the psychologist, but it is also important to turn to a place like Al Anon where people have suffered what the family member has suffered and where they will find a family that awaits them and welcomes them so that they can begin to work on their situation. The family member of the addict usually ends up merging into a world of suffering and ends up depending on their addict to be happy. The emotions of the family member depend on the emotions of the addict. It is important to understand that many times nothing can be done for the addict when he does not want to do anything for himself and the Al-Anon group helps precisely to set limits and to emotionally detach from any person in order to be free and find the path to happiness again. If you find yourself in this situation, I recommend that you look for the group closest to your home and visit it, I assure you that you will not regret it.