Danger of Alcohol Addiction - Jerry 22

"I was disheartened."

I have been trying to save a family member who drank for 15 years. The person called me saying, "Come and get me. I'm dying." I threw him over my shoulder even though he was bigger than me, carried him to the car, and took him to the hospital. He screamed in pain because he felt pressure on his stomach when I held him.

"Results at the hospital"

The nurse took a blood pressure reading and immediately declared a stroke emergency. Then they told me the drinking had triggered a dangerous level of Pancreatitis. They said the pancreas had swollen, and if it burst, he would die. Later, the doctor states, "I have seen blood alcohol levels that high before, but only in dead people. All medical literature says he can't be alive." He spent days in ICU, came out and immediately started drinking again. I was disheartened; he was already so sick.

"Danger of alcohol addiction"

We repeated this same routine over and over for years. As I understand it, alcohol is a neurotoxin. It damages nerves. Long-term alcoholics develop such a tolerance to alcohol that they forego eating to make room for alcohol. They are slowly dying of malnutrition. They develop Pancreatitis, which kills. They develop liver disease, which also kills them. Some of them drive drunk, which unsurprisingly kills. Being constantly drunk gets you out of touch with reality. When they run out of alcohol and start having withdrawals, their blood pressure can go up high enough to cause a stroke which can kill them. They can become so drunk they vomit in their sleep and drown in vomit. They could also become depressed over their situation. Lots of ways to die from it. They do essentially drink themselves to death either directly or indirectly. More people die from alcohol than from other drugs.

"A good ending"

Thankfully my family member's story has a good ending. We went back to the hospital, to the counselling department. We got to know that alcoholism is a disease. He began doing therapy during his recovery journey. He got to introspect as to what had caused him to depend on alcohol. Slowly by slowly, he was on his road to recovery.

"Joining Alcoholics Anonymous"

He even joined a support group, AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). He is doing better and taking care of himself, and I am very proud of him and his steps. It is also essential to state that it takes a lot of support because it is a disease; they cannot do it alone most of the time. Therefore, please support your people struggling with this disease.