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Shameless: A Deep Dive into Addiction in the Gallagher Household
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Shameless: A Deep Dive into Addiction in the Gallagher Household
Kylen Button
Addictions Class Final Project
Professor Anthony Zenkus, LCSW
April 28, 2020
What is Shameless?
Shameless is an American TV show that follows the lives of the Gallagher family, who live in a low-income neighborhood in Chicago. Frank, who is the family patriarch, spends his days drunk and scheming ways to The show follows the lives of the poor and extremely dysfunctional Gallagher family, whose patriarch is Frank. Frank spends his days drunk and devising convoluted schemes, resulting in misfortunes, while leaving his six children to fend for themselves.
Frank Gallagher
Frank was born and raised in the south side of Chicago. Frank is extremely selfish and narcissistic, as he is typically portrayed passed out from a drunken feud, leaving his six children to take care of themselves. Frank stated that "he started drinking when he was a teenager has not stopped since."
Addict
Qualities of an Addict
Frank possesses typical qualities of someone struggling with addiction. For instance, Frank does not care about anyone or anything unless they or it helps him get alcohol. In several episodes, you see Frank stealing money from his own children so that he can buy more alcohol. Frank also scams the federal government by cashing social security checks made out to his deceased aunt Ginger each month, in which he will immediately go to the local bar, the Alibi, and spend all of his money on alcohol. Frank even goes so far as to kidnap a elderly women with dementia from a local nursing home to pose as his aunt Ginger when the federal government becomes suspicious of Ginger's whereabouts.
Mental Disorder
Mental Disorder
Frank is a raging alcohol and drug addict, whose narcissism and reckless behavior often finds him in trouble and ostracized by his family and community members. Though Frank has narcissistic characteristics, I would argue that his symptoms actually depict what a man with borderline personality disorder (BPD) look like:
-Frank "parentifies" everyone in his life. He acts like someone with the emotional maturity of a child would, and expects those around him to take care of them. In order words, he depends on others to take care of his needs.
-Lack of empathy. It is evident throughout the series that Frank lacks empathy. He is emotionally incapable of seeing himself as anything other than the victim in any situation.
-Extreme emotional changes.
-Intense, but unstable romantic relationships.
-Lashes out when he feels insecure within his familial relationships.
-Often engages in risky, unhealthy, impulsive, and self-destructive behaviors.
-Has symptoms of paranoia, especially when it comes to anything connected to the government.
Frank Tries Sobriety for Medical Research
Sobriety
During the course of the series, there was an episode where Frank becomes involved in a medical study, in which he would be paid $3,000 if he remained sober for two weeks. This venture went as well as one may expect of someone struggling with addiction for the last 30+ years to go; Frank did not make the two weeks. This highlights how the common misconception that people struggling with addiction can "just stop if they want to." Getting to the path towards recovery, let alone staying on the path is extremely difficult and is rarely achieved without external help.
Monica Gallagher
Monica Gallagher
Addiction
Addict
Above is a clip of when Fiona (daughter) finds out that Monica has stolen all of the money they have saved in case of emergencies. You will see in the clip that Fiona thought her mother had gotten "better," but reality has left her disappointed once again.
Mental Illness
In addition to substance abuse disorder, Monica suffers from bipolar disorder that present as:
-repetitive speech and talking quickly
-exorbitant amounts of energy
-Engaging in risky or unhealthy behaviors, such as stealing a car, stealing money from her children, abuses drugs, etc.
Mental Illness
Here's a video of Monica in a manic state and engaging in reckless behavior
Lip Gallagher
Lip & Frank Similarities
Lip Gallagher
Environmental Factors
Gabor Maté said that “there is well-established research evidence showing that the mammalian brain develops largely under the influence of the environment, rather than according to strict genetic predetermination---and that is especially the case with the human brain (Maté, 2008).
Addiction and Environment
Mate's statement above holds a lot of truth in the case of Lip Gallagher. Lip was born in a poor, high crime neighborhood in Chicago. His mother abandoned him and his siblings at a young age, leaving himself and his siblings to fend for themselves. His father is a raging alcoholic struggling with BPD and expects Lip and the other children to take care of his needs.
The turning point for Lip that sets off his dependance on alcohol is when he is having a romantic affair with a professor at his university who ends up letting him down by not leaving her husband. Because of Lip's trauma in childhood, having parents who are substance addicts, and his numerous experiences with toxic and disappointing relationships, it is not surprising that he turned to alcohol.
Lip & Frank Similarities
Conclusion
Conclusion
Shameless does a fantastic job creating a dramatized, but also real example of what addiction in families can look like. Like Mate (2010) said, the root of addiction can often be traced back to trauma that happened in early childhood. Mate's statement is validated by the early childhood experiences Lip endured, which contributed to his alcohol addiction later in life. Frank and Monica both embody people struggling with severe alcohol addiction and substance abuse. They both exhibit traits common of parents and people struggling with mental illness to have while simultaneously struggling with addiction.
References
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2017). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: Dsm-5. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
Carreiro, Bianca Andrade, "Shameless: An Examination of Addiction and Alcoholism in the Family" (2014). Honors Theses. 9.
https://digitalcommons.salemstate.edu/honors_theses/9
Maté, G. (2010). Their Brains Never Had a Chance. In In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts (pp. 187–196). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Showtime. (2011, January 9). Shameless. Shameless.
Zenkus, LCSW, A. (2020, February). Class 3. Class 3. New York City.