Alcoholism Requires Recognition And Treatment

He was only about fifty-eight years old when he died. My former
boss was an alcoholic. In fact, I doubt he could function
without a drink. He was in the restaurant business and he could
be seen mixing it up with patrons always obviously drunk. Yet,
he was a highly 'functional' alcoholic. He made a flaming
dessert drink for the customers.

Alcoholism hurts people, it damages lives and the addiction is a
leech that controls and dominates the person it is attached to.
Alcohol treatment can help, but it can only help if the person
wants to change.

My former boss was a really nice guy. He had a really nice
family, lived in a nice place and was successful in his field. I
liked him, I liked his family. Maybe one of the lessons he
taught me was to never take up his bad habit.

Not too long ago, I ran into a young woman. She was very
beautiful. When I saw her 6 months later her face had been
scarred by an automobile accident. Her boyfriend was driving
drunk. He felt so guilty about it that he agreed to go to a
rehab center to get his drug and alcohol problem under control.
Unfortunately, this kind of tragedy had to happen for them to
wake up to the reality of their problem.

I knew another guy when I served in the Navy, he was one of the
funniest people I'd ever met. But he had to have a drink all of
the time. To me, one of the worst things in the world is to be
so dependent on a substance that you can't function without it.
He was young then. Many years have passed and I wonder what kind
of shape he is in today.

A former high school classmate was the president of S.A.D.D.
(Students Against Drunk Driving). Just two months or so before
graduation she was struck and killed by a drunk driver. She
didn't get to see her own graduation except maybe from above.

The list goes on and on. I'm sure you have your own list of
alcohol related situations and problems to draw from. Everyone
does, because the problem of alcohol abuse and addiction is wide
spread.

Is it possible to break an addiction to alcohol? The answer is
yes, but the addicted person needs to be willing to do so. If he
or she is not willing, not much can be done. Unfortunately,
before a person can be willing to do so, he needs to admit to
himself and others that he actually has a problem.

Our society and culture make it far too easy to explain away an
alcohol problem or to hide the fact from others or worse, from
one's self. The critical factor to getting help and removing the
addiction or at least controlling it is the person himself. The
willingness to change has to be there coupled with recognition
that the problem exists.

Growing up in an environment littered with alcoholics makes it
even more difficult to recognize alcoholism as a problem. This
person may have grown up thinking that excessive alcohol use is
normal.

The health of the physical body can be seriously damaged. The
liver is very important to a person's survival and alcohol abuse
can damage that vital organ.

Finding a good alcohol treatment program can help immensely.
Getting away from the enabling environment that contributes to
alcoholism can be very beneficial to the alcoholic's recovery.

If you have an addiction or any kind of health problem or think
you might, please contact your physician for proper diagnosis
and treatment.

About the author:
David Snape writes for To Be Informed. Read more about <a
href="http://tobeinformed.com/8/" > addiction </a> there.