United States (MNN) — For many families across the United States, addiction will be a painful part of the holidays.
“Imagine sitting down at Thanksgiving dinner with your son or daughter and something’s not right. They’ve got a hangover, or you just know that something is off, and you don’t know what to do. That picture is going to play itself out across the nation this holiday season,” says Brandon Bower with The Lighthouse.
According to a 2023 national survey on drug use and health, 48.5 million Americans (16.7%) age 12 and older dealt with substance abuse in the previous year. The survey indicated that among young adults ages 18-25, nearly 9.2 million struggled with a substance use disorder in the previous year. That was 27.1% of this demographic, or 1 out of every 4 young adults.
Bower points to the spiritual undercurrent to this reality.
“Instead of turning to the God of the Bible who loves us and created us and has a plan for us, we tend to turn to what the Bible would call false idols to help get through — [to] drugs and alcohol and addictions to help cope with the struggles of life, rather than than dealing with them from a biblical perspective,” says Bower.
So how might you respond to a loved one struggling with addiction this year? It’s simple, while at the same time complicated.
According to a 2023 survey, 1 out of every 4 young adults ages 18-25 struggled with a substance use disorder. (Photo courtesy of Mikail Duran/Unsplash)
“The number one thing that we as Christians need to do at the Thanksgiving or the Christmas table is to love those who are there, show them the love of Jesus even if things are rough and the attitudes are raging. A second thing would be to help them process things in life,” Bower says.
Sometimes that means processing the loss of a loved one together. But sometimes loving a person struggling with addiction means serious action.
“Sometimes loving them is helping them. Sometimes loving them is separating from them with some good boundaries. Sometimes loving them is actually doing the hard thing, like confronting them and and calling them out on their on their sin,” Bower says.
“It may even mean getting authorities involved if someone is suicidal or dangerous. Those are hard things, but we have to do whatever it takes to protect those that we love, even the hard things.”
Three resources for you, and a helping hand
“We need to be prepared. We need to have a strong mindset focused on Christ going into holidays,” says Bower. “We can get through this.”
(Photo courtesy of Austin Kehmeier/Unsplash)
If addiction is impacting your family, submit a prayer request through The Lighthouse’s prayer page. Their team of directors prays weekly over every request that comes in.
For a print resource that goes into detail, consider their new publication called What Do I Do Now? which Bower explains is “a guide for the family members to know how to deal with those who struggle with life-altering addictions.”
Then, consider biblical counseling a wonderful resource.
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, I messed up if I go to counseling.’ No, I think healthy people go to counseling to deal with rough issues that they’re struggling with. The holidays bring a lot of those things about. So look for a biblical counselor in your area to help you work through these issues, to help you understand what your husband is dealing with or your kids are dealing with,” Bower says.
Learn more and connect with team members at The Lighthouse at lhfw.org.
Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of Libby Penner via Unsplash.
