Drowning

“Crash! I hear glass shattering against the basement wall. I know exactly what had happened before my hand even reaches for the basement door. The creeks open, and I walk down the 19 steps I have faced way too many times at 2 in the morning. Descending half way down, a putrid odor engulfs my nostrils. Alcohol. I find my dad passed out on the floor. Blood was gushing from his fresh battle scar on his index that was speckled with brown shards from the pulverized beer bottle. Just another night at dad’s house I tell myself. Just another night that he wanted to forget.”

My name is Caitlin and my dad is an alcoholic.

When you hear the word “drinking” what is the first thing that comes to mind? Most people’s initial thoughts are partying and socializing, or maybe you think of stupid, uncoordinated people. The ones that throw up in the rose bushes and accidently drive over the trash can. These are all consequences of drinking but most people don’t grasp the concept of how hazardous drinking can truly be. You can hurt anyone around you, especially yourself. Drinking causes:

·         Memory loss

·         Impaired vision

·         Impaired motor-skills

·         Irrational thinking

·         Mood swings

·         Hangover

·         Liver failure

·         Cancer

In my reality, the word “drinking” sparks memories of violence, disappointment, misery, and betrayal. I feel like most people don’t understand the full effects of drinking unless they are affected by their own personal life experience. There’s a multitude of reasons that you shouldn’t excessively drink.

#1: Alcohol is not needed to “enhance” your lifestyle.

No one really needs alcohol to make his/her night better. That person might not even remember that night to be honest. You can have as much or more fun sober than you can wasted. Some people also think that if they drink and forget about everything, that it’s a good thing. It’s not like you’re going to wake up and all your problems are going to be gone though. They will still be present the next day companied along with a massive hangover headache. You end up in a worse than what you started at.

#2: Alcohol is expensive.

Think of how much money you would spend on alcohol alone if you drank on a regular basis? That’s a lot of cash that could be going to more important things like bills and food.

#3: Alcohol has terrible side effects.

Alcohol is a foreign substance that should not be consumed on sight. It has some very vicious set backs such as the ones lists above. The most extreme cases are that of liver cancer and alcohol poisoning. The liver has to process and break down all the alcohol you drink. Therefore if you drink a lot, the liver is put under a lot of pressure and stress to rid of this toxic substance.

Drinking is acceptable at the right moments, as long as you’re not getting obsessively drunk. You have to know when enough is enough and you have to be of age to drink responsibly. Drinking is coined with the terms fun and social, not anti-depressant medicine. Drowning yourself with alcoholic beverages is not a suitable solution to your problem at hand.