Family Stress and Coping

When families go through a stressful and hard times, it’s important for them to get all the help they need. In some cases, parents lose a child, a sibling rapes a younger sibling, a father is an alcoholic, a family loses a job, or a parent gambles all the families’ life savings away.  These kinds of things put stress on the family. Depending on the situation, not all families make it through crises very well. 

Things are not the same as they once were and may lead up to divorce.

If a family loses a parent from a medical condition, accident or an illness, it can be a painful time for them. There are ways they can deal with their crisis. They can be around extended family more and pray together. Everyone needs to be supportive with each other, and religious community members can help as well. In some cases people need to go to a family counselor to see a grief therapist. This type of therapist can help them resolve the problem and suggest ways of getting through it together.

Another kind of crisis is a change in family dynamics. For example, a mother may have to preside over the household or a father may run the home while the mother is deployed in Iraq. Divorce is also a significant change in family dynamics. Transitions can be a challenge for the children and parents.

Not everyone will have the same family crisis, and they may handle things differently. The family will need to be flexible and more responsible in helping each other out.