Blog Post #2: Anyone up for a Drink?

A couple of weeks ago, I was exposed to two different kinds of expositions about drunk driving. The first, a short yet gut wrenching book titled "Long Drive Home", by Will Allison. And the second was a drunk driving exhibit created by a group named Fiesta II in the Lázaro Library of the Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico.

Most of the exhibit dealt with the pain and misery brought on by the meaningless deaths caused by one irresponsible driver and it was rather impacting to see the effect that they cause with one bad decision.

The book itself dealt with a man trying to live with the one bad decision he made after he had had a bad day and was heart wrenching in its own right.

But, the common denominator to find in both these things I experienced was that of alcohol.

Alcohol. A drink or two aren't supposed to hurt too much. The problem to be found with alcohol is when we allow it to consume our lives. When we decide to hand ourselves over to the vice, we allow subsequent decisions we will make to be wrenched out of our own hands.

We're always being told about how bad alcohol is for you. We're always told unprotected sex will, without a doubt, change our lives in an irreversible manner. Yet we still hear about car accidents with drunk drivers at the helm and we still hear about how this person gave this other one some kind of STD by refusing to tell them about their positive status.

Have you ever wondered just why a person is driven to alcohol for comfort?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we should all drive drunk. And I'm not saying that every single drunk driver has an understandable reason behind drinking.

But what I am saying is that not every drunk driver is a bad guy and we can't really generalize.

The poster in the exhibit that most caught my attention was that of how, through Neuro-Linguistic Programming, some psychologists hope to help alcoholics with their addiction. Without fully talking about it, the exhibit gave a different look at drunk driving at its causes. It showed that some of these drunk drivers are actually alcoholics that are suffering from a disease that is extremely hard to cure.

There's a song I identify with a lot. It's called Death of Me by City and Colour. Give it a listen. It may just give you a new perspective on why some people drink.

By the end of the song, the singer decides to not drown his sorrows in alcohol. But the first half of the song is an almost optimistic train of thought about how all of his problems may just be solved by drinking them away. He says: "People love to drink their sorrows away. Sometimes I feel that I'd be better off that way." 

The turning point of the song is this set of verses:

"Finally I could hope for a better day. No longer holding onto the things that cloud my mind. Maybe then the weight of the world wouldn't seem so heavy... But then again, I'll probably always feel this way."

In the end, the singer ends up deciding on not drinking but doesn't end up saying much about it other than he'd probably always be miserable, even if he drank. It's a rather pessimistic way of seeing any given situation, but when one falls to addiction, they're usually at their most vulnerable.

And this vulnerability brings me to "Long Drive Home".

Glen Bauer was a man that lost everything in a short period of time because if his one angered mistake. His marriage crumbled, his relationship with his daughter became strained, and he was under investigation by the police because of Juwan's untimely death.

It really doesn't surprise me that he ended up taking some comfort in alcohol. 

As I read the book, I began to ask myself if he'd count as a true alcoholic. But the fact is that he still had a job and- no matter how strained- still maintained his relationships. 

So I read these two posts about 'functioning alcoholics':

http://www.addictioncampuses.com/resources/addiction-campuses-blog/the-4-stages-of-alcoholism-for-the-functioning-alcoholic/

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/features/high-functioning-alcoholic

And I came to the conclusion that Glen was well on his way to becoming a 'functioning' alcoholic. For he shows signs of alcoholism, but still doesn't show them to a degree that would be considered a true sickness.

Human beings can't always be strong. Sometimes we have to break apart so we can build ourselves back up. And, sometimes, during that rebuilding process, we're just too weak and end up succumbing to our weakness and seeking comfort in something that might help take away the pain.

Through the book, the song, and the exhibit, I was able to solidify my belief that not every drunk driver is the big bad wolf. 

Alcoholism is a disease that chews one up, drains them of every single good fiber in their body, then spits them back out as a husk of the person they once were. And it is a disease that should be cured, not criticized and villainized.