Alcoholism Essay Research Paper Helping Families of

Alcoholism Essay, Research Paper Helping Families of Alcoholics According to Alcohol And You, We live in a society that drinks heavily,and teens are influenced by this. (Claypool 15.) Living with an alcoholicbasically means living with stress a great deal of the time. Alcoholism is a familydisease that effects not just one person in the family but everyone. In ThePower Of Inclination,” the wife’s love for an alcoholic made her terrified andupset. Also, in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone alcohol affects the entire family,even though the alcoholic is only a teen. In The Glass of Absinthe two adultsare drinking at a bar. They go home drunk and affect their families. Thefictional literature on alcoholism was accurate in its portrayal of alcoholism as aserious problem that

affects many people. This report will be based onunderstanding the problem, how people are affected, and helping people cope. Initially, to help in understanding the problem, one must gain knowledgeinto why parents and teens drink in the first place. An alcoholic is not simplysomeone who gets drunk once in a while, nor is an alcoholic necessarily adrunkard. Alcoholism is defined as a disease caused by an addiction toalcohol. (Curtis 11.) The drinking problem can cause serious problems thataffect life, work, and health. This is shown in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone,when Marcus starts having a growing dependence on alcohol. His grades startsuffering; he wrecks his new car; the school newspaper turns down his material,and his girlfriend objects to his growing dependence on

alcohol. All of theseserious problems are affecting Marcus’s everyday life, due to alcohol. Thealcoholic is obsessive with alcohol and is not able to control the amount he/shedrinks. This is shown in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, when Marcus states inthe middle of the day, Putting the bottle in his book bag had saved his life morethan once that day, (140). Alcoholics feel they need alcohol to save them. Instead of relying on people for help, they turn to alcohol. Marcus from You’llMiss Me When I’m Gone, had family problems which caused him to startdrinking. To get better, Marcus had to admit to his problem with alcohol andeventually reach for help instead of reaching for a drink. Most experts agreealcoholism can be controlled only by total sobriety. While alcoholism may

involve physiological factors that make certainpeople more likely to become addicted, emotional factors are also involved. Forexample, self hatred is a common emotional factor in alcoholics. See, even myown son/daughter/brother/sister think I’m a jerk, and I probably am. Everyonehates me. Id better have another drink/another hit to take my mind off it . (Claypool 23.) In the painting The Glass of Absinthe the man and woman aredrinking. By their facial expressions and body language it was inferred to me thatthe man and women were drinking due to loneliness, unhappiness, despair ordepression. The man or women could be a teenager’s alcoholic parent whocame to a restaurant or bar to drink away their problems. Many alcoholics growup in alcoholic families. Drinking may be thought

of as a way to lessen the painof their childhood emotional scars. In reality, drinking just adds to an alcoholic’sproblems. According to the book Alcohol and You, by Jane Claypool, Alcoholwill make it difficult for a person to make judgments, concentrate, and tounderstand things,” (69).The alcoholic, therefore, has much more that a drinkingproblem. He/she is in need of a great amount of help from a trained professionalto quit drinking. From You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, Marcus was in great needof help. He was sneaking drinks from his parents bar, and a vodka bottle wasthe only thing that could get him through one horrible day to another. This shows the fictional literature was accurate. When a parent is an alcoholic, each family member is affected. Many teens’ lives are