What effect on later life does living with someone with an addiction have?

Every situation is different, really. So it depends on your situation. However, if you're feeling emotionally affected you might want to try putting yourself first instead of the addict and possibly finding another place to live if you have the means. If you're supporting them physically, emotionally, financially, etc. it could wear you down and make you burnt out. If it affects you enough and you find living with them traumatic it could cause you PTSD and you could have financial troubles later in life. If they get in trouble with the law you could get mixed in with that.

Living with someone that has an addiction is extremely difficult. The addict will lie and manipulate to feed their disease and the most saddest part is that the addict is usually not even aware of the extent of damage the addiction is causing until it is too late. It can cause extreme problems for the other persons self-esteem and financial it can cause many issues such as debts to the bank, family and friends. It can destroy everyone around it... it's very powerful and destructive.

Every situation is different, just like how every individual is different therefore the outcome ultimately will be different. But there is one thing we all need to know is that we can only help a person if they are willing to help themselves. We shouldn't help a person to the point that we're writing their life story for them. If you are emotionally attached to this person and their addiction starts to affect your mood and happiness, it is best to emotionally detach yourself from the person and focus on your mental health else you will end up being emotionally drained. Living with someone who has an addiction and being emotionally attached to their problems can ultimately lead to depression and the feeling of worthlessness if you come across the feeling that 'only if I loved him/her more, I could save him/her'. Best would be to get professional help for this person and support them from the sidelines as to save yourself from being emotionally drained

Living with someone with an active addiction can be extremely stressful. The chaos of not knowing how someone will behave or when an issue may arise can cause loved ones to become hypervigilant, angry, controlling, depressed, anxious, and scared. Everyone in the family can benefit from help with addiction recovery. It's a condition that affects everyone connected with the actual user. Recovery is possible. Go for it.

I think mainly it affects what we see as “normal”. I grew up with an alcoholic. For most of my life I thought it was strange when people, or even myself, didn’t drink at least majority of days in the week. If you aren’t doing that, you’re not having fun. That’s what I thought. My brain was wired to think that was normal. In reality it’s a serious problem to mask unhappiness. Addiction also affects relationships, a relationship with an addict is unpredictable and less genuine at many times. Again I thought this was normal at times. It causes anxieties and worries you never thought you could have

Living with someone with an addiction is very difficult. It is heartbreaking. There are many things that it effects on later life. The stress is incrediable. You begin to feel as you are just as sick but in a different way. We learn we can not change a person. They must come to that on their own. If we get help for ourselves we sometimes find we are co-dependant. There is help for this also. You have to learn to detach in a healthy way. You can not depend on a person with an addiction. This effects every person in the family. This can break down your health if you do not learn to deal with the stress.