The more and more I participate in AA the more stories I hear that really sober me up. Last night was an especially joyous and painful night for one AA member. This member shared with us her journey into alcoholism and more importantly, her journey into recovery. Like most of us, she became an alcoholic to help her deal with her shyness and get her out of her shell. WIth the help of alcohol she was freed socially and met her husband.
Love and Alcoholism
When she met her husband, it was like she had met her drinking soulmate and together, they would spend their days and nights in a drunken stupor, feeding each others addiction and fighting through the highs and lows of addiction. She never disclosed what her trigger for seeking recovery was, but she did state she hit a point where she needed to recover, because of the amount of alcohol she was consuming on a daily basis, she had to attend a detox.
Since I’ve joined Alcoholics Anonymous I have found out that for some people who consume excessive amounts of alcohol, their only way to achieve sobriety is through a detox facility where they are under medical supervision and provided with the necessary medication to safely stop drinking.
After she stopped drinking, she joined Alcoholics Anonymous and that changed her life, she started to attend regular meetings and got herself a sponsor. Through working this program, attending meetings and doing the 12 steps, she battled her demons and has now been in recovery for 6 years. After winning the battle of addiction, she started giving back to the Alcoholics Anonymous community through service and became a sponsor for many other alcoholics in recovery.
Alcohol Dementia
However, despite her personal success, her husband was not so lucky, he is currently in a supported living facility where he will spend the remainder of his life, receiving treatment for alcohol induced dementia. When I have heard of dementia, I never in my wildest thoughts would have imagined that alcohol could lead to this horrid disease. According to my readings, alcohol induced dementia affects alcoholics mainly because of the poor nutrition alcoholics have. And sadly, Alcohol induced dementia affects many young alcoholics.
Apparently this condition can be cured or reversed if it is diagnosed early, and the sufferer can abstain from alcohol, however if they can’t, the prognosis isn’t good. I’ve always known that alcohol consumption isn’t good for you, however I never really understood how bad it can be. For so many of my years as an alcoholic I would simply try and convince myself that I was a career woman enjoying a class of Cabernet in order to wind down, however it turns out that I was just using fancier wine to feed my addiction. Alcohol really can lead to so many health issues that we cannot comprehend until it is either too late. Every day I thank my higher power that I found AA before too much damage has been done to my life.