Accroding to the National Association for Children of Alcolohics:
* There are an estimated 26.8 million children of alcoholics in the United States. Preliminary research suggests that over 11 million are under the age of 18;
* 76 million Americans (about 43% of the adult population) have been exposed to alcoholism in the family;
* About 1 in 5 adult Americans (18%) lived with an alcoholic while growing up;
* Roughly 1 in 8 American adult drinkers is alcoholic or experiences problems due to the use of alcohol.
I wonder how many people grow up in a family where both parents are alcoholics?
Hi there,
Thanks for the comment! It’s nice to know there are readers out there.
I suspect that the dynamics of the alcoholic family is such that there tends to be just one alcoholic, and then its partner, the co-alcoholic the codependent. That said, both my mother and father were alcoholics. However, they quickly split up. I grew up with my dad, and my stepmother from a very young age — so he was the alcoholic and she was the co-alcoholic. My mother was married a few times, and in each case she was the alcoholic and the man was the co-dependent. As you could probably guess, none of those marriages lasted very long.
What’s your family’s situation?
All best,
amy