Personal Narrative: A Personal Experience With Alcohol Abuse

At twenty-two years old my younger-self had previously pictured me in an entirely different place. I never imagined living in Texas, I’m originally from Chicago, and that’s where I thought I would reside. I thought I’d be graduated from college already, but fate had a different plan. And never in a million years did I think I would become a drug addict; but I am, and you know what? It’s been the best thing that has ever happened to me, it’s something I’m truly thankful for now. See, all the things listed above may seem like negative things if you look at them from an outside perspective; however to me, they’ve changed me in ways I never thought possible just six months ago. Multiple circumstances have led me to this point, but a few stick

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.

It was my senior year in high school when my mom told me that my cousin, Mayra, had given birth to a baby girl. However, child protective services decided that Mayra wasn’t adequate to take care of the child; due to her drug abuse. Child protective services from Mexico were trying to place the baby with close relatives. Sadly, there was only three choices, her grandma, my aunt Gloria, and myself. The choices were few and the family small.

Many people have been misguided about whether or not alcoholism is “disease” that attacks a person’s good health. A key suggestion of those that believe alcoholism is a disease is that a disease is uncontrolled. This is not so. When people develop an addiction to alcohol they tend to push everything of importance out of their lives: family, friends, and sometimes even jobs. People with addiction to alcohol throw

Ever since I was a little girl I have always aspired to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps and become a prosperous attorney like him. He exerted himself strenuously, graduated from Northeastern Law School and was one of the founding partners of the Morrison, Mahoney and Miller Law firm currently located in Boston. It has been an arduous journey for me to verbally express the least endeavoring to follow my grandfather’s legacy. Shortly after graduating high school, my life consummately spiraled out of control and I was faced with adversity that seemed insurmountable. It is paramount to take a moment and apportion some brief history considering that I my past has molded me into the strenuously exertive, goal oriented student I have always aspired to be.

Alcoholism is known to destroy many lives and cause a lot of suffering. There has to be a point of realization where one figures out that it is a choice. Many people do not realize that they can become dependent on alcohol until it is too late. People with alcohol addiction often do not notice that they are relying on alcohol to get them through the day. To them, it may seem like a coping mechanism when it actually is anything but that. When the word alcohol is mentioned, many take it as a word that helps cope with stress or personal problems. In reality, alcohol is a depressant that does more harm than good. The effects of alcohol addiction are intoxication, withdrawal, and harm to self/others.

My relationship with drugs first began during my senior year of high school. While most of my peers attended their first parties years earlier, my first was not until I was already 17 years old. I still remember feeling so cool for attending my first party and having my first sip of alcohol. The feeling of being drunk was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I felt liberated, like I could break out of my quiet shell and be that fun, goofy person that everyone wanted to hang out with. Prior to this night I had never used any type of substance, legal or illegal. Since then I have continued using alcohol while also trying various different types of drugs including caffeine, marijuana, tobacco, and adderall.

So I attended the AA (alcoholic anonymous) meeting of a group called Choices Group from the KCB club on November 13th, 2015 at 2:30 PM. This AA meeting was held at the location of 5715 W. Alexander Rd.//Leon Ave. Although they meet everyday, this was the best day for my schedule. What I liked is that right away, I got in touch with the meeting organizer named Laura and she was more then willing to let me sit in in one of the meetings. Even over the phone I could feel that she was a nice person and when I met her I was not wrong. She has purple hair and such a bubbly personality. For starters, I always thought everyone would sit around in a circle but that was not the case in this meeting. There were tables where people can sit as well as some back chairs with no tables. When I arrived, Laura told me to sit in the back and when we go over people’s names to say that I was a visitor, that unfortunately never happened. It was around 2:27 PM and there was roughly 10 people there. As it got closer to 2:30 PM a bus showed up and that is when the rest of the people showed up. Roughly 45 people were there and the meeting started.

As I pulled up and parked I checked in with myself to see how I was feeling. I was extremely nervous that I would stand out like a sore thumb. I have never been to a meeting before and I didn’t know if everyone had to speak or if there would be some sort of role call where everyone would need to introduce themselves and state they were an alcoholic and how long they had been sober. I was quite concerned that I would make some sort of social faux pas since I didn’t know the rules.

However, there were some words of wisdom that was shared with me by a former addict. They informed me that alcoholism is not an illness itself, but a symptom of a bigger and deeper problem. I was amazed when I thought of it that way, that alcohol is simply the drug that addicts utilize to help them cope with a difficult issue. This opens up an entirely different way to treat an alcoholic. One must see that the drug is not the true problem, but something greater is,

Although, I am now reaching the age of where most people are starting to think of retirement and looking back at what they had accomplish compared to what they did not. I am looking forward to having two master’s degrees this year, and starting my own substance abuse clinic in my community. At this time, I am a social worker for Child Protective Service of West Virginia, and a youth service worker also. At this time West Virginia is rated the ninth highest rate of prescription drug abuse in the nation among 18 to 25 year olds (Raby & Mattise, 2015). As of now the West Virginia legislation has passed a bill that will allow for Narcan to be purchased over the counter in pharmacies (Raby & Mattise, 2015). The rates of overdose deaths continue

Luis states that the first time he tried alcohol was when he was 21-years-old. “I worked in the fields as a teenager and my brothers would ask me to go have a drink and I would tell them no. When I turned 21-years-old, my friend took me out and had one drink. I did not try and have another drink for almost one year.” Luis reports that at his heaviest use, from ages 22-years-old to 27-years-old, he was drinking 3 to 4 drinks on Friday and Saturday nights with 2 ounces of tequila over a three to four-hour period. “After I received my first Driving Under the Influence in January/February 2014, I stopped drinking and did not drink again until the day I received my second Driving Under the Influence charge. My sister-in-law had just arrived from

On November 16, I received the notice from U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission District Office, Phoenix.

Firstly, I let her know the effects of alcohol for instance when she drinks too much alcohol she can have slurred speech, difficulty concentrating, unable to control bodily movements, blurry vision and cannot be able to memorise information. Secondly, I asked her if she ever thought of sitting down with her friends and expressing the way she feels, she replied no, I then suggested that she do so and try cutting back drinking alcohol, and not going to bars with her friends often since they are the main influence. Thirdly, I told her if she continues to drink a lot, it will eventually damage her brain, heart, liver, kidney and pancreas which can lead to death. I also ask her if she was willing to get the help she said yes so I offer her to go rehab but unfortunately she turn it

This feeling of escape allows people to ignore the central problem and the negative emotions such as feeling of guilt, pain, anger, and sadness. By continuing to relief emotions and feel this short-term pleasure, it can “lead to disregard of adverse consequences and long-term damage which in turn increases the apparent need for the addictive activity as a coping strategy” (Griffiths, 2005). We can connect the feeling of escape though some of the coping strategies which include defense mechanisms such as denial, displacement, and rationalization. For an example, an addict might use the coping strategy rationalization by saying they drink because of the built up anger at work and need to relax. When in fact, they are drinking because they are an alcoholic, but in their own mind, they are giving an excuse to try and justify their actions. Based on how addiction is often used on a means of escape, professionals need to be aware about addicts’ psychological thoughts when helping them to overcome the addiction. From there, professionals can see how a person’s environment may or may not influence their thoughts and behaviors for their