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 truth was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse and above all 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 all through the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol rehab and the different alcohol rehab clinics that are typically available to people who engage in abusive drinking.
Negative Outcomes That are Related to Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse
Some of the detrimental end results correlated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class certainly frightened me. The ruined lives and countless serious issues experienced by most alcohol dependent people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In a word, I did not want to face the wreckage 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 teenager wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that consuming alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What adolescent 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 go through alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause problems in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after an individual has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a teenager want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that focuses on excessive drinking?
These issues were so meaningful that I discussed some of them in class throughout the school year. What was entirely incredible to me was the number of students who openly didn’t care about the damaging results of irresponsible drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t care less about reality and how these consequences can destroy their lives. For the first time in my life I started to understand something that my grandfather used to say to me all through my teen and pre-teen years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
It’s Beneficial, Important, and Energizing to Keep Yourself From the Unhealthy and Damaging Effects of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
And even at my young age, I also started to comprehend how invigorating, important, and beneficial it is in life to keep yourself from the damaging and unhealthy effects of alcohol and drug abuse. And understanding this also led to some commitment issues, conflict, and communication problems in the friendships and relationships I had in high school.
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