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by Ernesto Quealy (Author)
Addiction is a disease that has the power to infiltrate all areas of the lives it touches. Despite the pervasiveness and insidiousness of this disease, however, it can be easy for family members of a loved one to not realize the severity of his or her substance abuse. If you have a family member who is openly struggling with addiction, it can be a blessing in disguise for many reasons. For starters, you are not left conflicted about whether or not your family member has an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. You are also less likely to be in denial about his or her addiction, as the symptoms are so obvious that there is no denying it. Because you are not clouded by doubt, you are in a better position to rise above the most common complications that come along with addiction.
Unfortunately, many people who have questions about their family member's drinking and/or drug abuse struggle to figure out how severe the problem is. It can be easy to make excuses for certain behaviors and actions in an effort to normalize the family member's substance abuse and/or deny that it is as serious as it is. But, if you know what the signs and symptoms of addiction are, you can identify it if it is occurring.
