Are you between the age of 16-25 and is someone else’s drinking or drug use affecting your life?

If someone close to you drinks too much or uses drugs, a parent, sibling, or even a friend, it can affect more than people realise. It can impact how you feel, your home life, and how safe things feel around you. You might not talk about it. You might not have the words for it yet. That’s okay.

You might not say it out loud.

You might not even know how to explain it.
But it’s there, in how you feel, and what you’re carrying every day.

You might not even realise that things feel different in other families.

You’re not alone in this.

Around 1 in 5 young people in the UK are affected by someone else’s drinking or drug use, even though it often feels like you’re the only one.

Why we’re doing this

We’re wanting to create support for young people like you, support that actually feels helpful, safe, and real. To do that, we need to understand what this is like for you. Things like:

• what feels hardest at the moment
• decisions you may sometimes feel you have to make alone
• what you’re dealing with at home or in your head
• what kind of support would actually help

This is an exploratory qualitative research project examining the experiences and preferences of young people aged 16–25 affected by another person’s alcohol or drug use. Findings will inform the design of future Blossome provision and may also be disseminated through reports, presentations and academic outputs.