Over the past couple weeks I've come across a lot of people who have had someone close to them pass away. The one that stuck with me the most is a friend that is so close to me I consider him a brother. He is one of the sweetest, most genuine persons that I have ever met but life has never dealt him a good hand. He grew up in a family of abuse and a few years ago his father could not take his mothers alcoholism so he moved out. This left the burden on my friend to take care of his mother who eventually turned to alcoholism himself. Over the summer he decided he needed to turn over a new leaf so he was admitted into a rehab for 73 days and to prevent a relapse when he got out he moved in with his father who lives an hour away from his mothers home. Last week his father went to check in on his mother, that no one has heard from in about 2 months, and he found her dead inside her house and 2 of her pet cats starved to death from being alone for so long. This of course had a devastating effect on my friend who I've come to discover since this tragic event has started drinking hand sanitizer in his powerade to feed his addiction since he can not afford alcohol. So for this week I wanted to discuss alcoholism and it's effect on not only the alcoholic but also the people who surround them.
Alcoholism is a deadly disease that effects over 17 million American adults. It leads people to turn into someone thats not true to their real character when they are sober. Unfortunately my friend is not the first person close to me that has dealt with addiction and it leads even the most truthful person to produce lies to cover up their pain. I spoke with him just a few days ago and he told me he's been doing very well and thinks things are turning around for him but the next day he left a powerade bottle at a mutual friends house and that friend said he could smell the hand sanitizer in the drink. It's extremely heart breaking to not only me but the other people close to him. We all watch as the amazingly brilliant person we know slowly deteriorates into a shell of a human being. Over the past 5 years that I've known him I watched him go from a healthy pharmacy student to an underweight mal-nutritioned skeleton. He is a few inches taller than me but his weight is probably somewhat similar to my own. He substitutes his normal daily meals with alcohol to cover up the pain from his past.
If you know anyone with this problem they can visit AA meetings or the website listed.
I can agree that having a close friend or confidant experience a loss is one of the most helpless feelings I believe a human can ever go up against. As a friend, it’s hard to watch the ones you love deal with their life experiences, including negative emotions such as grief, loss, anger and so on. I can’t even imagine what you and your friend are going through, and my dearest sympathies go out to you both. Alcoholism is such an ambiguous disease, sometimes displaying such severe and aggressive symptoms such as your depiction of your friend consuming hand sanitizer in his drinks, and sometimes can play such a silent role in a person’s life. Even though the physical effects of alcoholism can be clinically apparent, your mentioning of the role of a person’s personality and emotions are symptoms that aren’t normally discussed at this “all science school.” I can relate to your post to some degree, as I too have lost a family friend from an alcohol addiction, and like you said, the worst part is how it can lead the “most truthful person to produce lies to cover up their pain.” It’s times like these where social support has helped me the most, and I wish you and your friend/friend’s family all the best in such a critical time.
ReplyDeleteAlcoholism is a big problem, especially on college campuses. It is important to raise awareness for this condition to try to avoid the loss of a loved one. Many people would be able to relate to this blog entry, myself included. It is important that if individuals see a loved one or friend experiencing problems with alcohol, or even drugs, to confront them and try to help them seek the proper help. One way to seek help is through AA meetings.
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