Background & objectives: A member of the family who is addicted to substances has an impact on practically every element of family life. This results in issues, challenges, or unfortunate incidents that affect the lives of family members and put a tremendous burden on family caregivers. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the pattern of stress experienced by the family caregivers of alcohol and drug dependent individuals. A member of the family who is addicted to substances has an impact on practically every element of family life. This results in issues, challenges, or unfortunate incidents that affect the lives of family members and put a tremendous burden on family caregivers. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the pattern of stress experienced by the family caregivers of alcohol and drug dependent individuals.

Methods: ICD 10 diagnosed substance dependency patients and their family caregivers attending a deaddiction centre at a multispecialty teaching hospital in south India were the focus of a cross-sectional study. The pattern of hardship experienced by the family caregivers of 120 men with alcohol and/or opioid dependency was evaluated using the Family Burden Interview Schedule.

Results: In comparison to the opioid and alcohol+opioid dependence groups, the alcohol dependency group was more commonly older, married, working at the time, earning more money, and having the wife care for the child. Family strain was moderate or severe in 95 to 100% of instances for "disruption of family routine," "financial stress," "disruption of family contacts," and "disruption of family leisure" in all three groups. Family burden was associated with low income and rural areas. The size of the family, the type of caregiver, as well as the caregiver's education and occupation, were not associated to it, nor were the patients' age, education, or period of dependency.

Interpretation & conclusions: The majority of caregivers (95-100%) expressed a moderate or severe burden, highlighting the severity of the situation and the necessity for additional research in this area.

Keywords: Drug addiction; Family burden; Substance dependence.