Personal Narrative: The Trouble 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

When I saw the Alcoholics Anonymous assignment on our syllabus earlier this semester I thought, "Oh my god, I have to go to some stupid AA meeting." In the weeks prior to attending the meeting, I was very nervous about attending it because I did not know what to expect. Some of the questions going through my mind were: "Was everyone expected to talk at the meeting?" and "Was I going to be criticized as the outsider wanting to know what AA was all about?" Those were my two main concerns.

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.

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.

Growing up, I dealt with a mother who struggled with addiction; to be unambiguous, she was an alcoholic. She drowned in her alcoholism as it pulled her down an alarming road. She was dreadfully depressed and believed that alcohol was the only way to make her feel better, addiction blinded her from what a great life she could have ahead of her. Not a single member of our family knew how to help her comprehend how much happier she would be if she could stop drinking her sorrows away. When it came to family events, my mom would try to conform to how others were acting and act “sober” even though she was already countless drinks deep in to drinking. Nevertheless, my mother just wanted others to like her which would lead her to change her outward

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.

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.

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.

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

I received my driver’s license a few weeks before I turned twenty. By that time, almost everybody I knew already had their driver’s license; in fact, most of them have been driving for years. When I tell my friends that I actually just got my license, the express shock and wonder at why it took me me so long to get it. The reason that it took so long for me to get my license is that the thought of driving makes me nervous. The night after I passed my permit test, I was filled with worries; I thought about everything that could go wrong with driving a car. What if I got into an accident? What if I accidentally break driving laws and the police gives me a ticket? What if I hit a dog? All these questions pushed my anxiety to the highest level and gave me zero confidence even before I officially started learning how to drive. I immediately pitied the people who were tasked to teach me how to drive. Those people ended up being my mother and father.

In today's modern society alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse has become one of the most complex, life-threatening issues. Most depressed individuals usually indulge themselves in bars or pubs with their alcohols to escape from their stressful life. It has become increasingly alarming how alcohol does not only attract the adults, but also teenagers these days. "Research has shown that approximately 14 million Americans (7.4%) of the population meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism" ("Facts about Alcohol"). Alcohol addicts may encounter social impact such as loss of respect from others who may see the problem as self- inflictive and easily avoided. Repeated use of alcohol over a period of time can result in

I started walking home from gymnastics -which I have from every Monday to Friday 3:30 to 6:00 - my dad, well step-dad is a alcoholic so he could not drive. I'd rather not crash. My mom is at work so we can live cause Fred does not work which means she is almost never home. Now I'm walking home now. 1 mile walk yippe.

Alcohol is a highly sensitive subject for me. Personally I do not believe in the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol and throughly encourage my friends the do the same. Alcohol killed me mother quite literally, she was an alcoholic and ruined her body and in the end took pills with alcohol to finish herself off. I believe that to drink at a party or any environment like that would be a bad situation all together. The only time I ever went to a party in which drinking was involved (I did not partake) it did not end well for me, regardless of my sobriety. Alcohol changes a person and normally for the worst, sure someone may get more open or become funny, but on the flip side, alcohol can make someone depressive and/or violent. I see alcohol