Nov 24 2008
Alcoholism – Progressive, Malignant And Fatal
As alcoholics, we have experienced the sheer malevolent power of addiction. The disease of alcoholism takes prisoners and when it remains untreated, many will succumb to its destructive capacity. Experts call it a progressive illness since the more one abuses alcohol the worse their overall condition will become. It simply becomes progressively worse for the untreated, unfortunate alcoholic who lacks the constitution or support systems to fight back.
For every alcoholic who is successfully treated and lives a life of recovery, so many more eventually perish due to alcohol. This is an illness that will never be cured due to research; there are no ribbon campaigns to find a cure for alcoholism. Research however has proven beyond any doubt that alcohol abuse will eventually kill you from various factors ranging from alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver to drunken driving accidents and any other myriad of health issues directly connected to alcoholism. Some will even die in withdrawal, this being the cruelest of fates.
As harsh as these words are to hear, they can be used to assist some in seeking treatment and even staying sober. Alcoholics need to understand the damage they are doing to themselves by their continuous, uncontrolled drinking. As the drinking gets worse, so to do the odds of dying from an alcohol related cause. Maybe that fact will shake up those drinkers who believe they aren’t hurting anyone by their drinking.
Many reported fatalities fail to give the exact cause for their occurrence and more often than not alcohol consumption was a factor. A police marine unit was questioned during a particularly active holiday weekend in an Ontario, Canada beach resort town of less than 20,000 people (this number doubled in the summer months). They reported that in 2007 their police divers responded to six times the number of emergencies than a similar unit in a major population centre of 2 million people an hour’s drive away. The vast majority of these serious responses were a result of misadventure due to alcohol.
Homicides, suicides, vehicle accidents, fires, strokes, respiratory failure or heart attacks; many can be traced back to alcohol as the root cause of death and an alcoholic in recovery can and should use these facts as they relate to the seriousness of their illness to keep them away from their next first drink. If they had an allergy to nuts and risked death if they consumed anything that contained nuts surely they would avoid eating them regardless of how much they enjoyed them. Sure, this analogy is somewhat flawed since nuts aren’t generally known for their addictive tendencies but you see my point. If it can kill you, you should avoid it.
When in the early stages of alcoholism we feel invulnerable to everything, as we grow older and the disease progresses we begin to experience failing health. By now the addiction is entrenched and the response to our deterioration is emotional numbness and continued drinking at an even greater pace. We begin to give up on ourselves and any thought of quitting alcohol becomes a tragic reminder of what might have been. Fatalistic thinking becomes the norm as time begins to run out on us and we passively accept our probable fate.
Only drastic measures will save us from ourselves and we secretly pray for outside intervention that in many cases has long since passed. By the time our bodies give out and medical action becomes involuntary often the writing is on the wall as our deepest regret becomes a reality, all hope is lost and alcohol will claim yet another tormented victim. The squandering of another life is unimaginable yet the pathetic powerlessness of the suffering alcoholic makes for easy justification by those left behind. He or she was beyond hope.
It should sicken everyone that the statistics continue to rise and the price paid by so many alcoholics is so steep. Stronger efforts to recognize alcohol problems before they intensify are required and common sense must rule in individuals who show an unhealthy inclination toward alcohol consumption. The stigma of alcohol as a weakness of willpower or as a moral depravity needs to be seriously challenged. Until alcoholism is recognized as a serious disease, it will never be treated as the medical emergency it really is.
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This information is really important for all those people who think that alcohol is easy, that they can control it. Alcohol becomes a problem when you less expected to be.
Its sad but alcohol is a huge problem..
and its getting away too many lifes..
innocents as those who drink.!
Great writing!
I think that this should be posted at an AA meeting of some kind.
I am/was an alcoholic but I never considered alcoholism a disease. I know there will always be people on both sides of the issue but to me, the important thing is for the person with the alcohol problem to get off the alcohol however they can.
I think some have an easier time of getting help if they think it’s a disease. Personally, I couldn’t have been helped by thinking of my alcohol problem as a disease. I also wouldn’t have been helped by A.A. I’m not better than anyone, it just wouldn’t have helped me personally. I think A.A. is a wonderful program.
I quit on my own (and God) and I haven’t had a drink in over 21 years. But again, the issue is for the person to get off the alcohol which is destroying his or her life. Having not drank in so long, I look around at all the people who still have a drinking problem and wish I could tell them how wonderful freedom from alcohol is….
The power of alcoholism to corrode the fabric of our lives, our families and our society can not be under-estimated. The power of the healing available from A.A., recovery programs and most of all through our re-connection to our source energy, i.e. our higher power – can not be denied. This is the season of our experience of ‘resurrection’ overcoming our experience of ‘crucifixion’! Peace and joy to you.
You’re helping a lot of people with this blog, including me. I’ve just started on my journey to sobriety (7 days now — yea!) and it has been so helpful to read blog posts like this. I still don’t get the higher power thing, but I definitely understand that every cell in my body is hard-wired for the booze. Reading your post about the many ways in which alcohol can kill helped me get through today. Thank you!