• feel like you have to control everything around you?
• worry that your grades aren’t good enough?
• wonder what it means to feel "normal"?
• feel uncomfortable meeting people or making friends?
• feel depressed or anxious, without knowing why?
"Of course," you may say.
"Don’t all college students feel like this sometimes?"
But, if you are like millions of other people in this country who grew up with a parent or parent figure who drank too much or used other drugs, you may feel this way more frequently or intensely than others. Just thinking about this might make you want to shout "yes, that’s me!"
An estimated one-in-four college students grew up with a parent who abused alcohol or other drugs. Adding in other parenting figures, like grandparents, step-parents, guardians or parents’ live-in boyfriends or girlfriends, the number only grows! That’s millions of students across the country, and without a doubt, some of them go to college with you.
If you are one of these students, read on to learn more about the effects of your family’s substance abuse (which includes alcohol and other legal and illegal drugs) and the skills you can use to cope with it.
Even if you did not grow up with a substance abuse problem in your family, it is likely that at least one of your friends or classmates did. The information presented here can help you better understand their experiences.
