Alcoholism is a horrible disease and like any addiction I image is very difficult to overcome and affects everyone and everything in its path. Alcoholism sneaks up on a person quickly and quietly. What starts out as a few drinks at a bar or a gathering every so often or even once a week becomes a daily routine and a lifetime commitment. Most of us have drunk alcohol to relax when we have had a bad day or a bad week and in my opinion that is where it gets you especially if you are having a bad life. Alcohol offers a release from the day to day stress of a job or a relationship or all of the responsibilities of life such as debt. The weight of life can be heavy and when you have a cheap and legal way to relieve that weight why not?

Why not? I will tell you why not. Because once you take that first drink your brain becomes lax and your judgment is impaired. One drink! Then one drink becomes four or five and you are making poor choices and possibly even life changes choices not just for yourself but everyone around you. I argue that the alcohol itself is not the addiction but the relief it provides from your problems. Alcohol kills and destroys lives because it becomes the most important thing in the alcoholic’s life and it impairs judgment and reaction times and eats the host from the inside out mentally and physically.

Alcohol physically affects a person not just by judgment impairment but by dehydrating the body and pulling important vitamins and minerals from the muscles. It causes malnutrition; fluid retention in face, hands, legs, and feet; ascites which is in plain terms a large belly which indicates liver damage; alcohol dementia; blackouts which are not passing out but missing times while you are fully awake; depression; and paranoia. I could go on but I think you get the picture. The cravings and the single thought of when can I have my next drink is driven by your bodies desire to stop the withdrawal symptoms that come when you are not drinking. Withdrawal symptoms like hand or body tremors; nausea; vomiting; cold sweats; and painful muscle cramping. Of course then there is the problems that alcoholism causes with your relationships with family, friends, and/or marriage. When you drink it causes depression and depression causes a person to lose interest in daily activities, even work. The alcoholic loses the physical ability to move around without staggering or falling over so they just sit and drink more and eventually pass out so there is no enjoyment of activities outside of drinking with family, friends, or spouses and nothing gets down around the house either. And when the alcoholic is drunk it can lead to verbal and physical abuse and embarrassing moments for your family when you are out in public. Alcohol affects intimacy as well and we all know that part of a healthy marital relationship is intimacy. And if an alcoholic is able to realize that they have a drinking problem and can see the negative affect it has had on them and those around them and seeks help the recovery process is long, hard and is for the rest of their lives.

You see once you are an alcoholic you are always and alcoholic because there is no magic pill to make it just go away as if it never existed. You will always have those cravings and unless you also treat the mental cause of the drinking in the first place you will always be subjected to a relapse. You will have to remain strong and vigilant. This is not said to discourage recovery but to encourage restraint and/or refrain from drinking in the first place. I enjoy a drink every now and then but because my children and I are survivors of an alcoholic excessive drinking has caused some distain which is completely understandable if you have ever been a victim of any addiction. It is very hard to watch someone you love fall apart right in front of you and be completely helpless to stop it. Alcohol, in my case, takes a strong and smart individual and turns them into fool to put it bluntly. In my case, my husband has managed to let the house fall into disrepair and is living with black mold; not paid his federal or state taxes for at least the past two years; and had not paid the property taxes for the past two and a half years. Why did I let this happen? I let it happen because I left him two and a half years ago because due to the mental abuse and the alcoholism. When I lived in our marital home I was the one responsible for making sure the house and property where kept up and the bills and taxes were paid. I was the one who held the family together and tried to make things as normal as possible for my children. I was the one who was there for my children because my husband could not be because of his alcohol. My husband is not able to function anymore and I am truly surprised he still has a job. This man was a brilliant electrical engineer who was sent all over the country to help others and who built new types of test systems for his company. He is now confined to an office giving direction instead of being hands on. I suspect this is because he is no longer functioning at fully capacity at work and since he is close to retirement the company might just be riding this out.

In closing, for the sake of yourself and your loved ones, please do not drink or do drugs.

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