A Young Couple Reviews Their Abusive and Heavy Drinking and Their Short and Long-Term Dreams, Aspirations, and Goals
Augie and Merissa have been dating for seven-and-a-half years. They met while taking the same accounting class at a medium size, country, Church affiliated liberal arts college located in the Western part of the U.S. While they were mainly good friends at first, they finally started dating when they were in their third year of college.
Because both of them came from very ”old school” backgrounds, neither one of them drank very much beyond the experimental stage when they first began dating. As the time advanced, then again, they began to go to more keg parties, happy hours, sorority and fraternity parties, and football bashes. As a consequence, they steadily began to drink more as time went by.
Their Social Life Frequently Consisted of Going to Happy Hour With Their Friends, Going to Professional Sporting Events, Going to Parties With Their Friends, Going to Restaurants Three or Four Nights Per Week, and Going With Their Friends to the Local Pub on the Weekends
After they graduated from college, they both found jobs in a medium size city that was located around eighty miles from their undergraduate college. Then they at long last decided to move into the same apartment with one another.
Given the fact that they were far removed from the college drinking scene, however, their social life frequently consisted of going to restaurants three or four nights per week, going to happy hour with their friends, going to professional sporting events, going to parties with their friends, and going to the local club with their friends on the weekends. In a word, Merissa and Augie began drinking in an irresponsible and hazardous manner.
Now that they were living with each other and beginning to get more serious about their relationship, then again, they began to think about having children, getting married, becoming more responsible, and buying a house.
With any major transformation in a person’s life there is commonly something that elicits the specific transformation in question. For Augie and Merissa the notion of buying a new house and having children was this “change agent.” Stated more explicitly, for the first time in their lives, Augie and Merissa began to critically appraise their excessive drinking and the long term alcohol effects on their lives.
How Would Their Hazardous and Heavy Drinking Affect Their Relationship With One Another, Their Ability to Have Children, Their Finances, Their Relationship With Their Parents, and Their Mental Health?
Would their irresponsible and heavy drinking unfavorably affect their ability to have children? How would they be able to continue spending almost all of their money on drinking if they were to start saving for a new house? How accountable would they be if they had children and continued to drink in an irresponsible and excessive manner? How would they be able to face their parents and tell them about their long term dreams, aspirations, and goals while they still drank in an irresponsible manner while having fun as they did when they were in college? What would their abusive and irresponsible drinking do to their relationship? How would their irresponsible and hazardous drinking affect their mental health?
From a different slant on things, although neither one of them ever suffered from alcohol poisoning, received a DUI, or experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms, they realized that their hazardous and heavy drinking was becoming a thorny issue that they could not discount anymore.
After Giving Their Situation Some Serious Deliberation, Merissa and Augie Finally Understood That Their Goals, Aspirations, and Dreams Would not be Reached if They Continued Their Drinking Behavior
All of these queries undoubtedly indicated the same conclusion: Augie and Merissa needed to realize more fully that they couldn’t continue their excessive and irresponsible drinking if their dreams, hopes, and aspirations were to be fulfilled.
Once they came to this conclusion, they told their drinking friends about their plans to start a family, about their marital plans, and about their goal of buying or building a new house. They also told their drinking pals that they still wanted to associate with them but that they would be drinking responsibly from this time forward so that they could start to realize their future plans, hopes, and dreams.
Unpredictably, all of their pals expressed relief because they too had been pondering the direction of their lives and concluded that their life-styles were too centered around drinking. They also understood that they would have to change radically if they were to become more mature and exhibit more thoughtfulness for their careers, their goals, and for their health in the next fifteen or twenty years.
After their candid discussion with their pals about their hopes, dreams, and plans, Augie and Merissa basically started to have more meaningful relationships with all of their buddies. The primary reason for this was the fact that all of them were on the same page regarding their excessive and irresponsible drinking and their short and long-term goals, aspirations, and plans.
A Distressed High School Student Manifests More Than a Few Alcohol-Related Issues, Gets Thrown Out of School, and Has to See the School Psychologist
Dante was a sixteen year old high school junior who was exhibiting more than a few alcohol-related problems at school. Consequently, the principal explained to him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist, before he would be permitted to come back to class.
Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to go over his school suspension with his Mom and Dad. His parents were “relatively traditional” and told Dante that getting suspended from school was not a practical educational game plan. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would most probably be like a lead weight around his legs that could probably impair his educational attainment for the remainder of his life. In addition, Dante’s parents were very let down that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his pals in the second.
His Mother and Father explained to Dante that even though he may be a teen, he needs to understand rather quickly that drinking is the pathway to ill health, failure, pain, and financial problems.
It was apparent that his Mom and Dad were on the same page as Dante’s principal and told Dante that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor. After his talk with his parents, Dante at long last agreed to see Miss Johnson the next school day. So Dante called the school and made an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next day during his third period class.
The Therapist Asks Dante if He Knows Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Behavior Signaled Such Alarm By the School Administrators
When Dante got to his scheduled appointment with Miss Johnson, she at once examined all of the alcohol-related issues Dante had experienced and asked him if he knew why his recent alcohol-related activities gave the school administrators room for alarm.
Quite honestly, Dante was unsure why the principal told him he had to see a school psychologist. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional psychologist about his drinking situation? Because virtually all of his pals drink about as much as he does, basically, drinking shouldn’t be such a big issue. Stated more forcefully, if nearly everybody is drinking, why is this such a major problem?
Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink alcoholic beverages. He said that some of his older buddies introduced him to drinking beer when he was twelve or thirteen years old and in the seventh grade.
Miss Johnson told Dante that while his buddies may indeed drink more than he does and that they may be an unhealthy influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting kicked out of school due to alcohol-related fighting, delinquency, and absenteeism, not his classmates. What is more, Miss Johnson also underlined the fact that Dante, and not his friends, is the one who is failing and who is missing almost two days of class per week due to his alcohol related issues. Finally, Miss Johnson highlighted the fact that due to his drinking activities, Dante is getting into a destructive cycle of excessive drinking that can in time ruin his hopes, dreams and aspirations.
In short, Dante’s involvement with youth alcohol abuse was beginning to foil his ability to behave like a responsible young man. As pronounced by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your buddies drink beer, wine, wine coolers, or hard liquor does not mean that it is the healthiest thing for you.”
Dante Learns That In Due Course He Must Claim Responsibility For Himself In Order to Avert Unhealthy, Dangerous, Destructive, and Damaging Situations In the Future
Miss Johnson informed Dante that one’s peers can definitely influence a person in a negative way, but that the individual himself or herself has to sooner or later be responsible for himself or herself in order to keep away from dangerous, damaging, destructive, and unhealthy circumstances down the road.
Fortunately, Miss Johnson was well equipped for her scheduled time with Dante. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that summarized different drinking statistics and facts that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of figures and reports that applied particularly to underage drinkers.
For example, Miss Johnson highlighted the difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse and informed Dante that individuals who continue to drink in an abusive manner commonly become addicted to alcohol.
Miss Johnson also articulated the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: consuming five or more drinks in one sitting for males and drinking four or more drinks in one sitting for females.
The Psychologist Conveys Several Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Facts and Statistics
Then Miss Johnson articulated various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:
1. Alcohol is a contributing factor in roughly fifty percent of America’s suicides, murders, and accidental deaths.
2. Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of fatalities among young people.
3. Each year in the U.S., approximately 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die because of underage drinking. This includes roughly 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle accidents.
4. Research has demonstrated that U.S. teens who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teenagers who never drink alcohol.
5. Roughly 1,700 college students in the U.S. lose their lives annually–approximately 4.65 a day–as a consequence of injuries that are alcohol related.
6. In 2005, 2.1 million American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 stated that they involve themselves in drinking while driving.
7. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 76 million people throughout the world have disorders that are related to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency.
8. According to recent alcohol abuse studies, it has been discovered that nearly 53% of the adults in the U.S. have reported that one or more of their close family members is an alcoholic or an alcohol abuser.
Dante Receives A Meaningful Wake Up Call Concerning the Long Term and the Short Term Results of Teenage Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
After Miss Johnson went over the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics, it was plain to see that what Miss Johnson made known to Dante was a real jolt to him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to explain the short term and the long term consequences of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency, but she also made the effort to validate what she was saying with alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse facts and statistics that related to everyone, and especially to teenagers.
To be sure, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante immediately comprehended why he should not be engaging in excessive and hazardous drinking with or without his pals any longer. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the material she reviewed.
Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical exam and an alcohol appraisal for the alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction treatment he would probably need.
Dante thought about this for few minutes and then agreed to get a complete physical and to go through a complete appraisal of his drinking situation so that he could start an alcohol rehabilitation program right away.
A Young Couple Evaluates Their Irresponsible and Excessive Drinking and Their Short and Long-Term Hopes, Plans, and Dreams
Merissa and Augie have been dating for four years. They met while taking the same gender and sexuality studies class at a relatively small, countryside, private liberal arts college located in the far Western part of the U.S. While they were in essence good friends at first, they finally began dating when they were in their second year of college.
Due to the fact both of them came from very conventional backgrounds, neither one of them drank very much beyond the experimental stage when they first started to date. As the time passed by, then again, they began to go to more football bashes, happy hours, sorority and fraternity parties, and keg parties. As a result, they over time began to drink increasingly more the longer they interacted with one another.
Their Social Life Commonly Consisted of Going to Professional Sporting Events, Going to Parties With Their Friends, Going to Restaurants Three or Four Nights Per Week, Going to Happy Hour With Their Friends, and Going With Their Friends to the Local Club on the Weekends
After they graduated from college, they both got jobs in a relatively small city that was located around seventy-five miles from their undergraduate college. Then they decided to move in with each other.
Due to the fact they were far removed from the college drinking scene, nevertheless, their social life regularly consisted of going to parties with their friends, going to happy hour with their friends, going to professional sporting events, going to restaurants three or four nights per week, and going to the local watering hole with their friends on the weekends. In short, Merissa and Augie began drinking in an abusive and hazardous manner.
Now that they were living in the same apartment with one another and beginning to get more earnest about their relationship, nevertheless, they began thinking about buying a house, having children, becoming more responsible, and getting married.
With any big change in an individual’s life there is often something that causes the particular change in question. For Augie and Merissa the thought of buying a new house and having children was this “trigger.” Stated more explicitly, for the first time in their lives, Augie and Merissa began to reflect on their excessive and irresponsible drinking and the long term alcohol effects on their health.
How Would Their Excessive and Abusive Drinking Affect Their Ability to Have Children, Their Mental Health, Their Relationship With Their Parents, Their Finances, and Their Relationship With One Another?
Would their heavy and excessive drinking unfavorably affect their ability to have children? How would they be able to continue spending so much money on drinking if they were to start saving for a new house? How responsible would they be if they had children and continued to drink in an excessive and irresponsible manner? How would they be able to face their parents and tell them about their long term aspirations, dreams, and hopes while they still drank in a hazardous and irresponsible manner while having fun as they did when they were in college? What would their heavy and hazardous drinking do to their relationship? How would their irresponsible drinking affect their mental health?
From a different viewpoint, although neither one of them ever suffered from alcohol poisoning, received a DUI, or experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms, they realized that their abusive and hazardous drinking was becoming a thorny issue that they could not overlook any longer.
After Giving Their State of Affairs Much Thought, Augie and Merissa Finally Comprehended That Their Dreams, Hopes, and Aspirations Would not be Fulfilled if They Continued Their Hazardous Drinking
All of these inquiries without a doubt resulted in the same conclusion: Merissa and Augie needed to comprehend more clearly that they couldn’t continue their abusive and heavy drinking if their aspirations, dreams, and hopes were to be fulfilled.
Once they got to this conclusion, they alerted their drinking buddies about their goal of buying or building a new house, about their plans to start a family, and about their marital plans. They also told their drinking friends that they still wanted to hang around with them but that they would be drinking in strict moderation from this point forward so that they could start to realize their future dreams, goals, and aspirations.
Much to their surprise, all of their buddies expressed relief because they too had been pondering the direction of their lives and concluded that their life-styles were too focused on drinking. They also understood that they would have to change substantially if they were to become more responsible and exhibit more thoughtfulness for their aspirations, their careers, and for their health in the next ten or fifteen years.
After their candid discussion with their friends about their dreams, hopes, and plans, Augie and Merissa essentially started to have more meaningful relationships with all of their pals. The fundamental reason for this was the fact that all of them had the same frame of mind regarding their excessive drinking and their relatively short and long-term plans, goals, and aspirations.