Drugs and alcohol are involved in many family arguments in different ways. Some arguments can be about the consumption of drugs and alcohol. Other arguments are about something completely different but are made more difficult if someone is under the influence.
Try and see the situation from the other person’s shoes. Example:
“I’m awake all night waiting for you to come home. You’re out until late, doing who knows what. You spend the next day in bed with a hangover and a bad temper.”
“I’m growing up, I’m not a child anymore. Yeah we have a few drinks at the weekend but it’s not like we’re drinking on the streets and causing trouble.”
Talk about alcohol and drugs. Ask questions and explain how you feel. As parents and carers you have a responsibility for your children or the young people in your care. It’s normal for young people to want to experiment and test their boundaries. What you can do is to help them make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing.
Consider lots of options to solve the problem.
“She goes out most nights, blows all her wages on alcohol and drugs and gets into fights. She shouldn’t even be drinking, she’s too young.”
Trying to make a young person tee-total could be quite difficult. Consider alternatives to try to improve the situation:
After working through the steps above and considering your own situation, you may find it helpful to know more about conflict resolution and mediation.
FAQs about conflict resolution
FAQs about mediation
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Kerry is much happier now that she and Sam handle their disagreements better.
If you get together and talk about it, I've often seen people come up with much better solutions themselves.
Paul Burns, Mediator
We still have our arguments, but we deal with them a lot better now.
Kerry, Sam's Mum
