CLOSE WINDOW

Does s/he repeatedly engage in verbal or physical abuse?

Copyright © 2000 by Doug Thorburn. Reprinted with permission of Galt Publishing, from Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse.

Several police officers and chemical dependency counselors confide that domestic violence points to a nearly 100% probability of substance addiction. Verbal abuse is the norm in families of addicts. As noted codependency expert Claudia Black writes, "In retrospect, most adult children who were raised in alcoholic homes remember the frequent arguing which took place in the home" about "anything and everything."

A survey by Maria Roy, founder and executive director of Abused Women's Aid in Crisis, Inc. of 150 abused women, found 85% of violent husbands had either an alcohol or other drug problem. "These men were inclined to beat their wives at a higher frequency, either when under the influence of drugs (including alcohol) or when sober; and their violence was usually characterized by physical assault with or without a weapon, usually leading to serious injuries, and including sexual assault. Husbands in this group did not have to be drunk or on other drugs when committing a violent act; very often, the assaults came during sobriety or when the effects of hard drugs had worn off" (emphasis added). The most common drug used was alcohol. Eighty-five per cent of those husbands may have been addicts and the other 15% were possibly codependents.