Opioid addiction and overdoses in children devastate their parents

(The Washington Post, June 30) A person’s addiction to opioids can cause their parents to develop C-PTSD – complex post-traumatic stress disorder – due to the constant stress and worry they go through.

“The average parent is traumatized from ‘losing’ their child for years before it becomes a full-blown substance-use disorder, so the PTSD takes some time to form,” New York neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez told the Post.

The trauma comes from “feeling like a failed parent and having to defend their child to others. It is stoked every time parents find themselves being lied to or stolen from, calling 911 or seeing their child unconscious – or worse.” Read more.