Girls With Addicted Mothers
Women get two opportunities to have a warm mother-daughter relationship, both as a daughter and as a mother. This bond is so special because it goes beyond gender and generation. It is a connection that feeds the souls of both mother and daughter. Drug addiction can seriously damage a mother’s ability to be there for her daughter. When this happens, drug rehab can help.
What Do Girls Get From Their Moms
Before we really understand what girls lose by having addicted mothers, we need to look at what a girl gets from a healthy mother-daughter relationship. First, they have a role model interacting with them in their home. Girls certainly don’t agree with everything about their mother (no, really!), but they do pick up on many clues about being a woman. They learn about being good friend to other girls and women, handling emotions, being a partner or spouse with someone, personal confidence and goals, family priorities, staying feminine yet strong, and more.
Girls with good mother-daughter relationships also have direct access to someone who’s walked the journey of girlhood to womanhood. This is a richly rewarding yet sometimes trecherous path. A little understanding and help can go a long way for a frustrated emotional girl. Even as adults, woman often see their mothers as a source of guidance and wisdom. You never really stop being your mother’s daughter – a strong relationship can have lifelong effects.
When Addicted Moms Don’t Go To Drug Rehab Girls Miss a Lot
When this critical influence is missing or damaged, a girl can experience much greater insecurity about her identity and her social environment. If she is lucky, another strong female family member or family friend can step in. This doesn’t always happen, unfortunately. And if a family system has a history of addiction, a girl may have trouble finding that strong healthy woman. Relationships are far more volatile and fragile when addiction has infected nearly every branch of a family tree. In this situation, a girl may simply have to forge on without a definitive female mother figure.
Mothers with addiction may still live in the same home as their children as they grow. However, unless they have been to drug rehab, they are likely to be a shell of a parent. Parents rarely have harmful intentions for their children. But mothers with addiction are very often unable to be consistent, to connect well emotionally, and to provide the positive example they know their daughters need. To know your child needs vital things you cannot provide is to know deep pain and shame.
Drug Treatment Can Help Mother Daughter Relationships
If you are a mother and you struggle with addiction, it is not too late. Even if your children are into their teens, it is still possible to turn your family life around by going to a drug treatment center. Your children need you as a healthy mother, especially daughters who look to you as their main role model.
Daughters of addicted mothers, you can also help your moms understand the importance of drug treatment. You’ve probably felt the emptiness in your heart for a long time, and you know a good relationship with your mom is what you need. Tell her about going to drug treatment, help her find the way.