Family Matters: An Autoethnographic Narrative of Addicted Selves and Addicted Others with/in the Family.

Abstract

This chapter explores the negotiation of family relationships in the context of addiction, based on my experiences living with and through family addiction. I use autoethnography to recall the ways in which a sister, her sister, and the family experienced addiction in the home. Within these narrative fragments I consider how addiction consumes the family and family consumes the addiction. Guided by family systems theory, I examine our family as an emotional unit and ground my analysis in the interdependent functions of addiction. In seeking a clearer understanding of the complexities of one family member’s story of enduring addiction, I reflect on my own struggles to gain a fuller sense of how these difficulties complicate recovery. Lastly, I make a case for a relational conceptualization of addicted selves, addicted others, and addicted families that brings into fore the participatory, co-constructive interactions of substance misuse and addiction. I end the chapter by providing questions for discussion.