For more information about methamphetamine and its impact on children, please visit the following websites:
• National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children: www.nationaldec.org
• The Partnership for a Drug Free America: www.drugfree.org Click on Meth Resource Center
• National Institute on Drug Abuse: http://www.nida.nih.gov/
More and more children are being taken into protective custody by law enforcement and child welfare caseworkers as a result of their exposure to caregiver methamphetamine use. If a safe relative cannot be found to place them with, many children find themselves in foster care with someone they have never met. Going into a stranger’s home can be extremely frightening for kids and the bond with their primary caregiver can be disrupted. While it is important for children to be safe and out of harm’s way, that still does not eliminate the love they have for their caregivers. Children may be very confused about why they cannot go home to their mom and dad.
Healing from a Traumatic Childhood
Early intervention significantly lessens the life-long effects of a traumatic childhood. The first need of children from addicted families is learn that they are just normal kids who have been trying to cope in an extremely stressful and chaotic environment. While their alcoholic home is not normal, they are normal kids. Their biggest problem is usually not having anyone they trust with whom to they can talk openly about how they feel and what they are experiencing. Opening up and sharing from the heart in a safe atmosphere is a tremendously healing experience. We must make sure to provide time for such experiences. Still, it may take quite a while to gain the trust of children from troubled families. Usually they need enough non-confrontational interaction with workers and the opportunity to observe them in action as they relate to others. Opening up can be extremely difficult, especially because they have learned their entire lives that they must protect their family’s secrets. They can feel like traitors, betraying their family and the illusion that everything is all right at home.
Children from addicted families have learned to survive by suppressing their emotions. They are told that their perceptions are wrong and that their feelings are not acceptable. So, we need to let them know that it's OK to have feelings and that they won't be rejected for having them.
Separation from Parents
In families with severe substance abuse issues, child protection agencies might remove the children from the addict parents and place them in foster care or the care of a stable relative. This can cause significant trauma for the child, even if she was at risk while in the care of her parents. Furthermore, even if the state does not remove the child from the home voluntarily, the substance-abusing parent might be arrested or incarcerated, which further strains the parent-child relationship and makes bonding difficult.
7. Small children have often been found with meth powder on their clothing and bare feet.
8. The risk of fire and explosion is great. In fact, a substantial number (15% or so) of meth labs are discovered due to fire and/or explosion. The stuff used to make methamphetamine is highly volatile and can be set off simply by accidentally mixing incompatible chemicals. Of course, manufacturing explosive/flammable material in a mobile home where the chemicals are stored next to stoves, ovens, and heat sources is never a good idea.
Meth labs present extreme dangers from fire, explosions and exposure to hazardous chemicals. Breathing chemical fumes or handling unknown substances can cause injury and even DEATH. Meth labs are considered HAZARDOUS WASTE sites. When a meth lab is confirmed, only trained and properly equipped professionals enter the home (i.e., first responder Hazardous Material (hazmat) Teams). Skin contact can result in burns or chemical absorption into the skin. Now imagine the children who live in these “homes”, who are exposed to the deadly fumes and chemicals on a daily basis.
A study showed that “chemicals spread throughout the house. The methamphetamine is deposited everywhere, from walls and carpets to microwaves, tabletops and clothing. Children living in those labs might as well be taking the drug directly.”
The consequences of living in alcoholic/drug-addicted homes are not limited to short term effects. Some deep-rooted and lasting effects after exposure to their parents’ behavior places the child at a greater risk of they too becoming involved in criminal activity, drug use and addiction, and violence.
It is important to note that normal cleaning (scrubbing, dusting, and mopping WILL NOT remove all of the chemical residue from surfaces in meth labs/homes. Residues have been found even on eating utensils and dishes after what was thought to be a thorough cleaning. Exposure to methamphetamine can result in:
- brain damage
- kidney failure
- liver and spleen damage
- birth defects
- DEATH
Other than the Obvious Physical Health Issues, Common Struggles of Children from Alcoholic/Drug -Addicted Homes Are Prone To:
1. Guessing at what is normal.
2. Difficulty having fun.
3. Merciless self-judgment
4. Feelings of shame
5. Difficulty with emotional relationships.
6. Feeling "different" from other people.
7. Tendency to be impulsive.
8. Either super responsible or super irresponsible.
9. Desperately seeking approval and affirmation. 1
10. Suffering from chronic anxiety.
11. Behavioral problems in school and other social settings
12. Lacking self discipline.
13. Compulsive liars.
14. Suffering from a critical deficiency of self-respect.
15. Fear and mistrust for authority figures.
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9. Chemical contamination. A recent study of meth labs found that “chemicals spread throughout the house. The methamphetamine is deposited everywhere, from walls and carpets to microwaves, tabletops and clothing. Children living in those labs might as well be taking the drug directly.”
Indeed, approximately 35% of children found in meth labs test positive for toxic levels of chemicals in their bodies, including meth. That is not counting the labs that have had children present at one time or another. The following link contains information about the dangers children face living in these toxic homes (http://ojp.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/children/pg5.html). Children in meth labs most commonly come into contact with chemicals through inhalation and absorption through the skin. Long-term exposure to meth lab toxins can damage the nerves, lungs, kidneys, liver, eyes, and skin.
It is not uncommon for children removed from meth labs to have chemically-induced asthma or pneumonia that clears up after the children are out of the lab.
Who to Contact if You Suspect Meth Related
Child Abuse
CALL 911
Local Law Enforcement Agency
Local Drug Enforcement Agency
Children can have symptoms of meth ingestion or toxicity simply from their exposure to meth within their environment.
Signs of Meth Use
Nausea and Vomiting
Diarrhea
Decreased Appetite
Weight Loss
Fast Heart Beat
Fast Breathing
Extreme Sweating
Extreme Paranoia
Violent Behavior
Hallucinations
Picking at skin "Crank Bugs"
Poor Dentition "Meth Mouth"
Skin Abscesses "Spider Bites" Chemical Odor of Nail Polish Remover (Acetone) or Cat Urine (Ammonia)
2. People who make meth are often users as well. Therefore, children in the home almost certainly ingest second-hand smoke. Not to mention the accidental needle-sticks from contacting improperly stored syringes (lying about in ash trays, on table tops, etc.).
3. Children living in “meth homes” are normally at a severe risk of abuse and neglect due to parents who use the drug, a drug that often makes its users extremely violent—irritable and careless at the lower end of the spectrum. Parents (users) often fall asleep for many hours or days after binging on meth, leaving small children to care for themselves. In fact, it’s often that a small child ends up caring for the addict/parent.
4. At some in-home meth labs, the “cook” often dumps the toxic byproducts into the plumbing drains, contaminating the entire waste system, including sinks and toilets. Therefore, children are in constant contact with not only the active chemicals, they are also exposed to the byproducts, which are just as deadly.
5. Meth chemicals are often stored in 2 liter soft drink bottles, which small kids easily mistake for the product they associate with those type bottles—colas, etc.
6. Meth homes/labs are notoriously filthy—hundreds, if not thousands, of roaches, flies, and fleas, dirty clothes everywhere, dirty dishes, used condoms, used needles, cigarette butts, half-eaten plates of food, spills, grime, razor blades lying about, pet urine and feces throughout, well, you get the picture. Unsanitary and unsafe to say the least.
Photo Source: www.methamphetamine.org
DRUG ENDANGERED CHILDREN
1. Methamphetamine is made from a concoction of chemicals and other material that makes you scratch your head wondering why a person would want to put this stuff into their bodies. For example—muriatic acid (the stuff used to clean pool walls and freshly laid brick walls), ammonia, methanol, ether, benzene, methylene chloride, trichloroethane, toluene, anhydrous ammonia, red phosphorous, and iodine. So, not only are the kids who live in these environments exposed to the immediate effects of harsh and toxic chemicals, they also must endure long-lasting and lingering effects because things like carpeting and draperies absorb vaporized chemicals. And let’s not forget other items that may absorb the fumes. You know, like baby bottles and nipples, and clothing. The list is long.
Professionals have stated that children from addicted homes actually suffer from emotional and psychological symptoms that are best described as a combination of codependency and a variant of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It occurs when people are subject to stresses of such intensity and nature that they clearly lie outside the range of normal human experiences. The effects are especially severe if the stress is caused by a series of traumatic events, and is of human origin. The effects are even more severe if the individual under stress has rigid coping strategies, or if the person's support system includes those who encourage denial of the stress.
Growing up in an alcoholic family is certainly traumatic. In these homes, children experience a daily environment of inconsistency, chaos, fear, abandonment, denial, and real or potential violence. Survival becomes a full-time job. PTSD also leads to a condition called "psychic numbing" experienced as a sense of estrangement and being detached to the point of feeling there is no place or group to which we truly belong. Emotions become constricted, especially in the areas where intimacy, tenderness, and sexuality are involved. Is it any wonder that these children are eight times more likely become addicts themselves or to marry an alcoholic or drug addict. The dangers for children living in a home where methamphetamine is manufactured are many, and they’re not all related to the finished product. Sure, small children could easily ingest the stuff, and you’ve all heard about the danger of fire and explosion, but there are other dangers and long term effects that children face living in such a volatile environment.
In the US, twenty million children are experiencing physical, verbal and emotional abuse from parents who are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs. This is tragic when we consider that childhood is the foundation on which our entire lives are built. When a child's efforts to bond with an addicted parent are thwarted, the result is confusion and intense anxiety. In order to survive in a home devoid of healthy parental love, limits, and consistency, they must develop "survival skills" very early in life.
In a chaotic, dysfunctional family, the lack of external control through consistent loving discipline results in an inability to develop internal discipline and self control. They learn not to depend on their parents to meet their needs - instead, it is all up to them. And, because they can't trust their own parents, they become generally suspicious and mistrustful of all human beings. Yet, they are defenseless against the projection of blame and often feel responsible for parents' addiction. They become "little adults" that feel compelled to accept responsibilities well beyond their years.
IMPACT OF ADDICTION
ON CHILDREN AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT
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