Alcoholism: How My Father Changed My Life

A staggering 30% of U.S. adults have been or currently are alcoholics, and not all of them have abstained from parenthood. The essay “Under the Influence” by Russel Sanders tells the tale of a young boy who had an alcoholic father, who he could not understand why he was an alcoholic, except for the belief that he was possessed by demons. He didn’t live around any treatment centers that could help his father, for he lived in the backwoods of Ohio. He talked about the constant fear of his father beating him (which he never did), and the constant fear of his father leaving him (which he did for small increments of time). The trauma of having a father who was an alcoholic father stayed with Sanders well into adulthood.

Prominent essayist and novelist, Scott Russell Sanders, in his essay, “Under the Influence” (1989), describes how having an alcoholic parent shapes a person. Sanders’s purpose is to reflect on his bleak youth and its lasting effects on his adulthood. He adopts a resentful tone in order to convey to readers who have no experience of growing up with an alcoholic that alcohol abuse is destructive.

Robin Williams once expressed that “[a]n alcoholic is someone who can violate his standards faster than he can lower them.” Many instances in Under the Influence by Scott Sanders displays he idea of depletion of character triggered from alcohol. Sanders reveals the contrast in behavior of alcoholics while sober and under the influence. Sanders also delves into the view of family members of an alcoholic and how astute they become in seeing signs of an alcoholic. To achieve this review one of the important elements of Under the Influence is that Sanders does not make this experience feel singular. Sanders’ goal of writing Under the Influence is understanding and describing the reach and affect of an alcoholic family member. Sanders’ pursues the understanding of his goal through bringing together the concepts of flashback and reflection.

A trigger can send a person into a downward spiral and anything can act as a trigger. For many, alcoholism can be likened to a gun’s trigger, ready to break from its containment and shatter a once strong bond. Many authors use problems like alcoholism and mental problems to create barriers in bonds of an individual forming an identity. Hugh Garner’s short story, “The Father”, demonstrates the chain reaction of alcoholism's effects on a family's relationship in a time of conflict. The story proves that alcoholism makes keeping a close family identity a near-impossible feat. John Purcell drinks until his family relationships are as broken and distorted as the lines he walks when pulled over. John’s drinking gives him

In “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders, an American novelist, the author explains the struggles he had to go through while dealing with his alcoholic father. Alcoholism has slowly transformed his father into a completely different person, and even a different creature at times. Every time his father would get drunk, Sanders and his family felt as if he was losing a piece of his dad. The family felt ashamed of the disease that had consumed their father and this developed where telling other people was impossible, making their father’s alcoholism a secret that the family kept hidden and closed away from the rest of the world. They felt the need to try and help their troubled family member. Sanders even states how he thinks that

Isabelle, a student of Elk County Catholic High school, a hater of alcoholism, been, what feels like cursed, by God for having to deal with something that's ripped my family apart, ripped me from my father, ripped me from my grandparents, ripped my parents apart. Living with someone who has alcoholism, and has tried to hide it is disastrous, it tears you apart finding those beer cans hidden in the corner of the storage room, or the case of beer hidden in the back of the car. If you have a family member or a a friend struggling with alcoholism, then I urge you to read this letter. As always grace and peace to you and your family, and have a blessed day.

Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the user’s behavior, but strains financial standing and social interaction (“Alcohol Problems vs. Alcohol Dependency”). Jeanette’s father in The Glass Castle, an undiagnosed alcoholic, would be the poster child for alcoholism in America with his many blatantly obvious symptoms. His relationships with the people around him, his finances, and his control over his actions and emotions deteriorate as the memoir develops. With this, Walls paints a very accurate account of alcoholism and its effect in America.

Throughout the decades, alcoholism has become a common issue that has become the cause of the deterioration of many relationships. In Scott Russell Sanders essay, “Under the Influence”, it is demonstrated how his relationship with his father continuously weakens due to the effects of alcohol. In order to create a deeper understanding of the impacts that alcohol consumption has on families, Sanders uses information from sources such as medical journals with actual statistics that increase the relevance of the story. In Sanders’ essay, “Under the Influence”, the author uses references such as dictionaries, medical journals, and the

Challenges that still face are the relapse his father with alcoholic abuse, it would be 2-4 years sober because he would swear to the Virgin Mary. Once his dad does the years he swears in church he binges drinks until he becomes abusive and then swears in church again. The economic status his family lives in, living in poverty, lack of resources for not only him but younger sister as well. Issues John remains to have are anger management, lack of social skills, and support system. Due to John not telling anyone about the abuse at home and learning that it is okay to express his feelings and to talk to another adult for help, lead him to have difficulty expressing his emotions.

Knowing some of my family and their hardships because of reputation I have been able to observe reputation’s inaccuracy first hand. For my entire childhood, I grew up with an alcoholic father. He never once laid a hand on me. That was something that he had promised me, he will never hit me, for as long as I live. He said if I ever made it to the point where I needed to be hit, then that was his fault. There are stories about him tangled up in fights when he was much younger, yet that is as far as his violent tendencies had come,as far as I am aware. One day my Mom had apprehensively explained to me that I would not be seeing my dad that week, an incident had occurred between him and his wife, now ex wife, my father had been taken to jail.

The emotional abuse that I have suffered through cannot be consigned into words. I believe the worst part of it all was never being enough for my father; I was never a good enough reason for my father to quit drinking. The abundant of support that we gave him wasn’t enough for him. All that agony has made me into the persistent and self-reliant man that I am today. From my dad’s experiences, it made me realize that he’s the type of person I don’t want to be. His disease made me able to find the many benefits of being raised by an alcoholic

Many people across the world suffer from alcoholism, a family disease. It is called a family disease because the addiction harms the alcoholic, and everyone who has to live with them. Children consistently suffer when they share a house with an alcoholic. Unfortunately, alcoholism is common and many children find themselves in this situation. The emotional and psychological scars that children can develop in alcoholic homes can be so deep that they can last well into adulthood. Youth who grew up in an alcoholic home can develop similar personality traits and characteristics. Approximately 26.8 million children are exposed to alcoholism in the family and 6.6 million children 18 and younger live in households with at least one alcoholic

It was the summer of 2002, my father had come clean to my mother about his drug abuse and admitted to have taken me with a few times to the houses. I remember meeting children and having to hang out with them in a bedroom for a few hours. Although my father did this to our family, he was adamant to make life better for us. He worked two jobs, went to rehab, and went to college at the age of 27 to get his degree in finance and criminal justice just to make it up to my mother and I. This determination to pay back what he had taken has stuck with me ever since; I’m determined to do what I want in life because of him. My father made sure we would never have to have government assistance anymore for food etc., and he stuck true to that claim

We all know the typical meaning of Monday; a new week starting, going back to school or to work, dealing with stress, following a schedule. I go through all these steps every week; however, the day-after Sunday has meant much more to me than a simple week starting again.

Alcoholism, although thought mostly of its impact on the alcoholic themselves, it is also a very present problem in the ruining of his or her friends and their families lives. Someone who may be a fully functional, great person to his or her family may be extremely dangerous, dishonest, and destructive while they are under the influence of alcohol. This instance occurs in "The Glass Castle" with Rex Walls and also occurs regularly in our society today, such as abusive parents, and husbands. Without alcohol Rex was intelligent, responsible, honest, and a overall