my news article with graphic
The Face of Alcoholism and Abuse
MHS students tell us their story by Kim Kromholtz
From an early age, some children will see alcohol around the house. They will see their parents have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer out by the pool, but what if you knew that every time your mother or father took a sip of alcohol your world would fall apart? For more than nine million children living with a parent dependent on alcohol this is their reality (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency [NCADD]). According to the 2001 census 76% of men and 64% of women drink on a weekly basis. Eighteen million of these men and women have an alcohol dependency problem (NCADD).
According to Nancy Stek, director of education and training for the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, alcoholics always drink excessively. It's never just a glass of wine with dinner. They are unpredictable. "You never know if you're going to get a pat on the back or slap across the face," Stek, explains. A child living in this environment usually develops a paranoia and fear of people. When entering school and being introduced to authority figures. These behaviors can be damaging to a child socially and mentally.
For some people on the opposite end of the spectrum the thought of their parents drinking is unfathomable and they can’t imagine it. Senior Kellie Jorgensen explains, "Addictions are dangerous. They impair the way you think and act and affect those who are close to you. People (from what I’ve heard) behave completely differently when they're drunk and I just don't think that is a good environment for children to be in." The unpredictibilty of an alcoholic proves to be cause of most problems in the family. A quarter of all emergency room admissions, a third of all suicides, and half of all homicides and domestic violence cases are alcohol related (NCADD).
Sally Johnson (name of student has been changed), grew up around alcohol-abuse from a early age and says, "It was just normal and accepted that my family members would be drunk at social events…I didn’t really realize the severity of it until I started watching TV and talking to people at my school, that it was actually a problem." She also commented on the fact that both of her grandparents were alcoholics and her grandpa eventually died from it. Because of her family history, Sally made a conscious decision to monitor and watch her drinking. She doesn’t want to grow up to be an alcoholic like her other family members. According to the NIAAA, because alcoholism is a genetic disease, it runs in families, and over half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking.
Barbara Smith (name of student has been changed), whose parents abstain from alcohol for moral reasons, says, "my parents were so disappointed when they found out I drink alcohol. They thought it was their fault." Although Smith’s parents don’t drink now, she said, "I think my dad would be a drinker if it weren’t for his religion because he was an alcoholic before he converted to [his religion]." When asked whether or not her parents’ drinking habits affected her drinking she said, "since they were so against it, I just wanted to do it more." Smith said she believes she will continue being a drinker into her adulthood, and although she has been drunk many times, she doesn’t believe she has abused alcohol. There are many teenagers in the same mindset as Smith. 5.1 million teens are binge drinkers and this includes 2.3 million heavy drinkers who binged at least five times a month, According to US Department of Health and human services (http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/rpo995/), 91 percent of women and 78 percent of the men who were frequent binge drinkers considered themselves to be moderate or light drinkers. This is a large reason why so many people slip into a pattern that leads to alcoholism. People don’t realize they are addicted and are binge drinking.
So, what qualifies one as an alcoholic? According to The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence," is a disease that includes four symptoms: Craving, a strong need, or compulsion, to drink; loss of control, The inability to limit one’s drinking on any given occasion; physical dependence, withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking; tolerance, the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to "get high."
Alcoholism and alcohol dependence are problems across the nation and here at MHS. If children aren’t taken out of this environment early on there is a great chance that they too will become alcoholics or marry alcoholics. As sophomore Aundrea Leslie said, " If all people ever see is aggression, all they can ever learn and do is aggression."
*The only way to help this problem is to treat it and the first step to treatment is admitting there is a problem. The second is getting help. If there is someone you know that you think is suffering from alcoholics, binge drinking or drug abuse urge them to get help. Call your local Alcoholics anonymous or go to http://www.niaa.nhs.gov for more information.