When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not realize that alcohol abuse in point of fact was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse and particularly about alcohol side effects, 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 throughout the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol rehab and the various alcohol rehab facilities that are repeatedly available to people who engage in excessive drinking.
Detrimental Effects That are Associated With Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
Some of the damaging results related to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class absolutely scared me. The ruined lives and numerous serious issues experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. Stated briefly, I did not want to face the disaster and ruination that alcohol dependent 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 adolescent wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that consuming 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 issues before he or she becomes twenty-one?
What young person wants to experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would a person 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 centers on excessive drinking?
These issues were so important that I discussed some of them in class throughout the school year. What was absolutely unbelievable to me was the number of students who openly didn’t care about the injurious outcomes of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with reality and how these results can wreck their lives. For the first time in my life I started to understand something that my grandfather used to emphasize all through my youth: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.
It’s Important, Liberating, and Beneficial to Keep Away From the Unhealthy and Destructive End Results of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
And even at my young age, I also started to comprehend how liberating, beneficial, and important it is in life to keep away from the unhealthy and destructive end results of drug and alcohol abuse.
