Shocking Discoveries About Alcohol and Drug Abuse in High School
When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a substance abuse class. At that time, I did not realize that alcohol abuse in point of fact was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse and particularly about alcohol side effects, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people throughout the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol rehab and the diverse alcohol rehab facilities that are frequently available to problem drinkers.
Dangerous Outcomes That are Related to Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse
Some of the detrimental effects related to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class definitely startled me. The ruined lives and frequent problems experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. More to the point, I did not want to face the disaster and ruination that alcohol dependent people almost always encounter.
Ponder upon this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What adolescent wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that drinking alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teen wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related problems before he or she becomes twenty-one?
What adolescent wants to deal with alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to quit drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on abusive drinking?
These issues were so significant that I discussed some of them in class during the school year. What was utterly astounding to me was the number of students who simply didn’t care about the harmful consequences of irresponsible drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with the facts and how these outcomes can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to understand something that my grandfather used to say to me all through my youth: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
It’s Important, Energizing, and Beneficial to Keep Yourself From the Destructive and Unhealthy Outcomes of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
And even at my young age, I also started to realize how beneficial, important, and energizing it is in life to keep yourself from the debilitating and unhealthy results of drug and alcohol abuse.
Enabling, Alcoholism, and Alcohol Relapse
It is interesting to articulate something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcohol dependency of another family member plainly do not grasp. It seems to be that by shielding the alcohol dependent person with untruths and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in essence created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent person to persevere and press forward with his or her unsafe, detrimental existence.
Clearly, instead of helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have involuntarily helped negatively affect the alcohol addicted person’s drinking problem even further.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcohol dependent person will continue drinking in a hazardous and excessive manner and go through various “alcohol side effects.” Some of these side effects include legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs), diminished mental functioning, deteriorating relationships, serious financial problems, ill health, and employment difficulties.
The Likelihood of a Relapse is Real
According to the research literature and statistics on alcohol addiction, another key alcohol dependency issue concerns alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcoholic has effectively undergone alcohol dependency therapy and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this predicament flies in the face of commonsensical thinking and seems so unbelievable that it forces one to wonder why anyone who has gone through the misery of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol rehabilitation and in turn after reaching sobriety. There are, to be sure, numerous reasonable reasons for this.
It should be explained, on the other hand that alcohol dependency research that has centered on the lasting consequences of alcohol dependency has demonstrated-proven that long after the alcohol addicted individual has halted his or her drinking, major modifications in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain operates are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcoholic has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the modifications that have occurred in the brain is to start drinking once again.
The Necessity for A Drastic Lifestyle Change
There are additional reasons why several recovering alcoholics return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. In accordance to the alcoholism research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcohol dependent individual needs new ways of reacting and thinking in order to deal more effectively with tough alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.
Situations such as returning to the same alcohol addictive environment or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the days when the alcohol addicted individual was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can bring forth memories that can prompt psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol dependent person to engage in excessive drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these circumstances may not only get in the way of lasting sobriety for the alcohol addicted person but they can also lead to relapse and consequently negate one’s alcohol recovery.
The Good News: There’s Light at the End of the Tunnel
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcoholic, family members can in point of fact cause inadvertent harm by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcoholic.
The alcohol abuse research literature validates the fact that most people who successfully complete alcohol rehab experience at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or stressed out when a relapse manifests itself.
Fortunately, participation in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up therapy and training have resulted in more productive, lasting alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction rehab outcomes, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons attain enduring sobriety.