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Alcoholism Prevention
Throughout the years many
different people have tried to prevent the use
of alcohol. Doctors, religious leaders,
governments, and even husbands and wives but
with all their efforts combined, the levels of
alcoholism in the home and workplace has risen
drastically. Alcoholism affects more and more
people each year. Some of it is learned behavior
passed down through the previous generation,
specifically from the parents, but not always.
One key way in preventing
alcoholism is to stop the cycle within the
family unit before it is passed down to another
generation of children. With all the mysteries
still surrounding alcoholism, this strategy is
not an absolute guarantee that alcoholism won’t
rear its ugly head again. Sometimes alcoholism
“skips” a generation. For instance, a child may
grow up in an alcoholic home, growing to despise
alcohol and all of its damaging traits, and
never drink. This child grows into adulthood,
marries and has children of their own. Later,
their children grow and one of them becomes an
alcoholic even though there was rarely any booze
around them.
Another key in preventing
alcoholism is education. Informing children of
the dangers of underage drinking will help in
increasing their chances of not becoming
alcoholic. The longer a person can go, growing
from child to adult without drinking, the better
their chances. The seed of alcoholism is usually
planted at an early age and if they start
drinking, say, as an adolescent or teenager,
their chances of becoming alcoholic increase.
Not everyone who drinks as a teenager will
become alcoholic. Though, there are cases where
individuals became alcoholic even though they
hadn’t started drinking alcohol until their
mid-twenties.
The absolute best way to prevent alcoholism and
be guaranteed a person will not end up alcoholic
is for them to remain totally and completely
abstinent. An individual will have the greatest
chance of never becoming alcoholic if they don’t
ever drink. But in this day and age, wishing for
someone to never experiment with alcohol at all
in their lifetime may be a fruitless endeavor.
Somewhere, sometime, they will be offered
alcohol. But unlike many other drugs, one drink
of alcohol will not make a person an alcoholic.
Usually what happens is the individual will
enjoy the effects alcohol has on them and they
will pursue it again and again until eventually
dependency develops. How long it takes for
dependency to accrue in the body is anybody’s
guess. A few months of hard drinking may cause
dependence in one person where a few years of
hard drinking in another will not.
If someone has
a predisposition to becoming alcoholic, it is
best to try and have them stop drinking as soon
and as early as possible. But if their
inclination is more toward alcoholic, they may
already be on a path that only they will be able
to get off of. Outside influence will have
little effect on quelling their drinking. If you
have tried everything under the sun to stop
drinking but have been unsuccessful, help
yourself by accepting outside help. The odds are
against you of being successful by yourself. Why
not increase the odds and your chances of
getting sober and staying sober by admitting
yourself to a treatment facility? You and
everyone around you deserve it.
By: Patrick McLemore
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