Secrets, Denial, and Addicted Families

According to Professor Marcus Caldas from the University of Deusto, secrets and denial fuel addictive behaviors in families. Why are we talking about addicted families instead of individual addicts? In Caldas’ opinion, an addict affects their environment in one way or another. In fact, the people surrounding the addict often participate in the addiction, consciously or unconsciously. Caldas proposes that the family functions as a system in which the action or inaction of each part has repercussions on the others. In this regard, the addicted family influences everyone who’s a part of it. Often, addicted families use secrecy and denial…