I’ve known a few old folks who at a certain age suddenly get fascinated with genealogy. The thing they all have in common is estranged relationships with their living children.
Someone needs to tell them that if they showed as much interest in their kids as they do in dead strangers that maybe they wouldn’t have time or fascination with genealogy.
My father’s genealogy efforts have brought him into contact with more family, most of which he never would have found without. It has had no effect on his immediate family, and he is a great Dad. Maybe you just coincidentally know people who use it as a crutch to replace their broken family relationships.