Alcoholism

I’d like everyone to take a moment and imagine with me. Close your eyes if you’d like. Picture that it’s a regular day: a tiring and boring school day full of worksheets and tests. You’d like to go home and relax for a little while. You walk in the door to your house. Your dad is home from work. You go to tell him that you got an A on your Physics test. Unfortunately, you walk into the kitchen to find him stumbling across the room. You ask him why he’s doing this again, but he’s drunk to even form the words to give you an answer.

A month ago I went to that 4-hour driving class we have to take to get our licenses. This is when the magnitude of this problem really struck me. Of course alcohol came into the conversation when we were discussing drunk driving. Our instructor asked us to raise our hand if we knew an alcoholic. I expected maybe 5 out of the 20 of us to raise our hands, but as I looked around the room, I saw about 15 hands in the air, mine included. I actually know two alcoholics; while one is quite alive, and the other drank himself to death a few years ago. Alcoholism is a very dangerous and very real societal concern.

The situation I described earlier was not just a story I made up. About 6.6 million kids under 18 years old live with an alcoholic parent; that’s 6.6 million people just like us that come home to the nightmare that is their life. That is because there are 14 million alcoholics in America, including 3 million teenagers, 3 million seniors, and 500,000 9-12 year olds.

While alcoholism may or may not be a disease, it is a disabling condition. Alcoholics rely on alcohol to actually help them function. But as you know, the alcohol does more harm than good. Of course, overuse or misuse of alcohol can lead to other medical problems such as cardiovascular disease, malabsorption, chronic pancreatitis, liver disease, heart disease, cancer, disruption of brain cell production, and strokes. This list could go on and on because alcohol can damage any part of your body that is vulnerable.

Not only is alcoholism a danger to the alcoholics themselves, but to everyone around them. One addict will affect the lives of around 5 people; that’s 70 million people affected. Because alcohol impairs your judgment, your likelihood to commit a crime increases. One third of all fatal accidents were caused by an intoxicated driver, two-thirds of all domestic violence cases involved alcohol, and 40% of all state prisoners convicted of a violent crime were drunk at the time of their offense. Of course, I’m not saying that alcohol will make you commit a crime, nor am I saying that all alcoholics are this dangerous, but I am saying that alcohol can change you in ways that make you a danger to yourself and others.Now, all these risks and consequences are, of course, important to know so that you know why alcoholism is a horrible danger. But these are all facts that most people are already aware of. What I want to get across to you even more so is a deeper understanding of the addiction itself.

The first thing to know is who is more likely to develop alcoholism. It’s is most common among men ages 18-29. Alcoholism is also hereditary; this accounts for 40% of alcoholism cases, and sons of alcoholic fathers have a 5 times greater risk of developing it. Alcoholism is also related to other issues like PTSD; up to 75% of victims of violence or abuse trauma and up to 30% of victims of accidental, illness, or disaster trauma report problems with alcohol. Other risk factors include people who suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, low-self esteem, stress, peer pressure, or people who intentionally drink excessive amounts on a regular basis.

The second thing you need to know is how to recognize an alcoholic. Some symptoms are drinking alone, violence when drunk, inability to control drinking, missing work or school or other activities to drink, neglecting normal eating habits, hiding alcohol use, and signs of alcohol withdrawal when they don’t drink. You should never ignore any of these signs if you notice them occurring in another person. Even if you notice a person with one of these symptoms who is not yet an alcoholic, it is very possible that they are susceptible to becoming one.

So what can you do about it? Well, alcoholism is treatable. But going cold turkey on one’s own is dangerous because one out of every five alcoholics who stop drinking without medical assistance die from withdrawal. This is why there are many addictions counselors and programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous, who are out there to help not only the addict, but their family as well. Curing an addiction is never easy, but you’ll never get anywhere if you let it be. I urge you to seek help as an addict or family member of an addict. I want to end the suffering of those 70 million people affected. So please, join me in ending alcoholism. Thank you.