With drunken behavior entrenched in our society, we need more research and resources to address this deadly problem.
I come from a family of alcoholics. Sarah, my first cousin, was the most recent to die of complications from alcoholism, at age 41. Before her, seven people in our extended family, including her father, my father and our grandfather, died from alcohol-related problems. At one Thanksgiving, my grandfather passed out drunk into his gravy and mashed potatoes. My cousins routinely had to steady their father out the front door after Christmas dinner. My dad spent a New Year’s Eve in detox.
Their behavior is accepted, and maybe even expected, in our culture. The United States ranks fifth in countries with the highest rate of alcohol use disorder behind Latvia, Belarus, Russia and Hungary. Alcoholism has a genetic component, but with early awareness and prevention, there’s a chance to stop it. Why don’t we?
Both my parents were drunks. In early adulthood, the repercussions of being a child of alcoholism attacked my mental health, but I escaped the cycle by moving away, obtaining an education, entering therapy and finding a new definition for family. I dug in hard to get out but can’t ever completely escape. My life expectancy as a child of an alcoholic is still lower than a child born to parents who loved them more than alcohol.
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