When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a substance abuse class. At that age, I did not understand that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, 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 all through the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol treatment and the various alcohol rehab clinics that are commonly available to alcohol abusers.
Some of the negative consequences associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class definitely terrified me. The ruined lives and frequent problems experienced by most alcohol dependent people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In short, I did not want to face the wreckage and destruction that alcohol addicted individuals almost always go through.
Reflect on this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What young person wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related problems before he or she becomes an adult?
What youth wants to deal with alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual 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 focuses on irresponsible drinking?
These issues were so noteworthy that I discussed some of them in class during the school year. What was entirely unbelievable to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the harmful outcomes of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with the truth and how these effects can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate a saying that my grandfather used to articulate throughout my younger years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
Tags: alcohol abuse, alcohol rehab, alcohol treatment, alcohol withdrawal symptoms, alcoholic rehabilitation centers, alcoholism, drug abuse, substance abuse