Alcoholism and Its Effect on the Family Katelyn White College

Alcoholism is a serious mental disease that affects a tremendous amount of families in the United States. Not only do the ones with the mental illness suffer, those around them are impacted too. When loved ones are addicted to alcohol, they can endure severe depression, withdrawal, anger, frustration, and other emotions that they would not normally feel when sober. This causes those around them to feel tense with anxiety and cause conflict within relationships. It is important to remain patient with those who have the disease and encourage them to seek help. This is evident in the play by Jon Robin Baitz titled Other Desert Cities. Silda is suffering from alcohol abuse and this causes great tension within the Wyeth family. Polly and Lyman do not seem to show much sympathy for Silda who is a recovering addict which creates much unnecessary tension that spreads throughout all the family members. By analyzing the hardship that Silda is going through, one can truly understand how substance abuse is the root cause of conflict within the Wyeth family and how this could apply to realistic familial situations in the United States as well.

Silda is the main character in Other Desert Cities that suffers from alcoholism. In a book titled...