Both related a self-medicating process whereby they utilized alcohol as a means of escape from their worries and troubles. With the accuracy of sober 20/20 hindsight, both men explained how they can now see how this process merely set into motion a vicious cycle. Drinking beget problems and stress, which beget more drinking, and more problems and stress.
In addition, both men indicated that drinking had interrupted their sleep patterns significantly. Staying up until all hours of the night drinking was not an uncommon lifestyle facet, for both men. This often led to passing out in the wee hours of the morning and not awakening until early afternoon or later. Excessive drinking often also led to spontaneous 'naps' in the middle of the day, which would lead to being unable to go to sleep at a normal hour that evening. This disruptive sleep schedule, as noted earlier had significantly negative impact on their employment, as well as their family lives.
Neither man had ever been addressed about their drinking, by their physician. Both actually indicated that they rarely visited their doctor, during that time of their life. For them, there was a feeling of invincibility, a mistaken sense of control, when there really was a complete lack. In addition, neither man had been hospitalized or institutionalized on account of their drinking. Although Antonio had been in a car accident, due to his drinking, his injuries were minor and had not warranted professional medical care. Neither men sought out rehabilitative help for their drinking problem via a hospital or institutionalized setting.
Interviews in Correlation to Literature Review:
The interviews brought to light the more personal side of alcoholism, in contrast to the research performed that was overviewed in the literature review. The interviews delved into the effects and consequences of alcoholism for not only the alcoholic, but also their family members and their employers. It brought to life the disturbingly vicious circle that alcoholism can be, causing problems and strife that leads to more and more drinking which only serve to compound the problems of before and create new ones.
One piece of literature that was reviewed indicated...
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Alcoholics Anonymous The first face-to-face meeting I attended was an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting at the United Methodist Church in Greenville, SC on a Friday night. Smoking was allowed at the meeting, which was held in a wheelchair-accessible facility. Coffee and snacks were served. I arrived ten minutes early. Several others were also there early, including the person setting up a table full of literature. The person setting out the literature
In fact, some people can recover from alcoholism with no formal treatment whatsoever, and others may "…cycle in and out of dependence" during their entire lifetime, Huebner continues (296). One relatively new idea in terms of treating alcoholics is to use the powerful hallucinogenic drug, LSD, according to an article in Medline Plus (Preidt, 2012). A study using 536 patients who were alcohol dependent showed that "a single dose of
Alcoholism: Children of Alcoholic Parents Alcoholism is a serious problem that affects millions of American families in unthinkable ways. More importantly is the effect on the children of problem drinkers, who often suffer from emotional and psychological problems as a result of parental alcohol abuse. Research on this topic has often revealed that children of alcoholic parents stand a greater chance of becoming alcoholics themselves. The manner in which a young
Alcoholism Alcohol addiction is a disease that cannot be solved without proper treatment. Children of alcoholic parents have certain specific attitudes in common about alcoholism in the family. In a healthy family, there is a strong emotional bond between mother and child, however if the mother is an alcoholic, that bond is often dysfunctional or nonexistent. Similarly, if the dad is alcoholic, the bond becomes one of anxiety and risk for
First, the person who attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings admits that their drinking has become out of hand. The admission of a problem is the first step toward recovery. Second, the person who joins Alcoholics Anonymous, however informally, finds solace that he or she is not alone. Suddenly the individual is surrounded by caring, compassionate, and supportive persons who share similar stories and who completely withhold judgment. In fact, one of
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