It is Children of Alcoholics Week, so let’s talk about the lasting impact addiction has on families.

We often speak about substance use as an individual crisis.

But in reality, it reaches far beyond the person at the centre of it — into homes, relationships, childhoods and communities.

That is true nationally, but it is also true here in Hertfordshire.

Behind many of the stories we hear about drugs or alcohol are quieter experiences that don’t make headlines: children growing up too quickly, families living with fear and instability, people learning to cope in whatever way they can.

Recent family impact research gathered through The Living Room has shown just how lasting these experiences can be.

One participant described their childhood like this:

“I felt like a child parent, took on more responsibility and lived life feeling unsafe and worried all the time.”

Another shared the reality of violence and insecurity in a changing household:

“My mum had lots of husbands and affairs. She was violent… and when she was not strong enough to make me cry, she’d get whatever man was in her life to hit me.”

These are difficult accounts to read, but they help explain something we often miss: harmful substance use is frequently rooted in survival, trauma, and coping — not simply in bad choices.

Adrienne Arthurs, CEO of The Living Room, which supports people through its centres in Stevenage, Watford and St Albans, says:

“What we see so often is that these struggles do not happen in isolation. They affect whole families, and many people are carrying experiences from childhood that shaped how safe the world felt. Recovery has to be about connection and healing, not just stopping a behaviour.”

 Hertfordshire is a county with strong communities, but like every county, it has families facing hidden pressures.

For many people, alcohol or drugs can become a way of coping with overwhelming internal distress — particularly where neurodiversity, anxiety or early trauma are part of the story.

The Living Room’s centres exist because recovery doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when people feel safe enough to be seen, and when families are supported to rebuild trust and stability.

The broader message is one that matters locally as much as nationally:

These experiences are rarely just about one person. They are about the lives around them — and the chance to break cycles, here in our own community.