Some thoughts about alcohol

In the United States alcohol kills almost 200 thousand people each year.  When you consider the damage it does to families and property it is amazing that it is even legal.

Globally alcohol is the seventh leading cause of premature death.

If eating corn had the same effect on society I am positive it will be constantly in the news, and the plant will be outlawed.  But booze is something different.  We want to keep it because it makes money for many, can be taxed and makes normal people feel good!

It appears when it comes to liquor, the addicted bears the brunt of the blame.  Just be stronger, stop being weak, stop drinking!

Unfortunately addiction itself is stronger than anyone’s will, no matter how strong that person appears to be.

Liquor is here to stay, I myself enjoy it occasionally.  So we should look out for each other, intervene when needed!  What might stand between a person and addiction is good mental health. Care for your mind. Be concerned about the state of mind of others. You might be saving a life. It might be your own.

Addiction 

Pete always wanted to be a lawyer.  He had a sharp mind.  Did great in school, got a full ride scholarship and for a while excelled in college.  His problem was he could not pass the bar, any bar.

His trouble with booze started on weekends, binging with friends.  It helped him relax, helped him forget the constant pressure he felt.  Pressure to be good, do well, succeed, make his parents proud.  Pressure he himself installed in his mind.  

He started having a drink or two at night, after class, so he could sleep.  Later he carried a flask so he can have a sip between classes, so he could concentrate.  Then he needed it first thing in the morning just to function.  Eventually it was all he wanted.  

His depression and sense of failure deepened, his desire to be numb required more and more alcohol.  He stopped going to class, stopped eating and drank non stop while awake.  He slept, sometimes a few hours, sometimes for days. When he wakes he goes to the liquor store first thing to restock, then start his day of drinking until the despair dissolves, every day, over and over.

He ignored the world, his friends, his phone.  He did not shower, brush his teeth or answered the door.  He forgot who he was, what he was supposed to do.  

This went on for weeks.

One day he did not wake up.  Three days later the apartment door was forced open and his emaciated body discovered.  The apartment full of empty bottles, the air thick with the smell of decay.

Everyone that knew him heartbroken, shocked by the method of his demise.  Some blaming themselves for not knowing, not seeing his troubles, not intervening.  Others in a state of shock and disbelief.  Everyone looking towards their own coping mechanisms.  Some indulging in the same thing that drowned Pete, believing they are somehow immune, stronger willed, just better at managing their vices.  

Some might be, others not.