Paintings help families share addiction hell

Mar 7 2008 by Ben Glaze, South Wales Echo

HEROIN addicts’ families have painted portraits of their loved ones as part of a support network.

Fourteen parents and partners of Class A drug abusers launch their week-long exhibition at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay, on Monday.

Cardiff Drug Intervention Programme family liaison worker Charlotte Waite said: “Bringing them together meant they could offer each other support and feel more normal.

“Sometimes they feel there must be something wrong with them and blame themselves, so it helps to meet other people.”

Charlotte, whose position with Cardiff council is funded by the Home Office, said encouraging addicts’ relatives to paint helped them express feelings and share experiences.

She said: “Drug users often get help but their families get very little. Having a drug user in the family isn’t something they talk about because of feelings of isolation and shame.”

All the portraits were painted from photographs and some of the amateur artists, aged from 26 to 60, depicted their relatives as children.

“Showing them as innocent youngsters is good because it reminds people of who they are,” said Charlotte.

She said families had mixed feelings about the exhibition, which runs from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and finishes an hour earlier at the weekend.

“They’re scared because they are vulnerable and displaying their emotions, but they’re also proud of themselves,” she said.

One of those who took part was Peter Blackburn, of Penarth, whose 28-year-old daughter has been taking heroin for three years.

She dropped out of university when she became addicted and now lies and steals to feed her habit.

Peter, 61, said: “It’s the awful feeling of a waste of a life, the deceit and the involvement in crime.

“This sort of event brings people together. I met a lot of people in similar circumstances. It made me realise there are people affected from all walks of life.”

ben.glaze@mediawales.co.uk

For more details about coping with a family member on drugs, call Tearing Your Hair Out on 029 2039 7495 or Cardiff Drug and Alcohol Team on 029 2046 8555.