Alcoholism affects the entire family.
Living with a non-recovering alcoholic in the family can contribute to stress for all members of the family. Each member may be affected differently. Not all alcoholic families experience or react to this stress in the same way. The level of dysfunction or resiliency of the non-alcoholic spouse is a key factor in the effects of problems impacting children. Children raised in alcoholic families have different life experiences than children raised in non-alcoholic families.