Alcoholism Destroys Families: A Personal Story

Alcoholism is more often than not the bane of happy families and I am not even talking about the effects that an alcoholic parent has on the psychology, personality and attitude of his/her children. Most studies say that children from families where one parent was an alcoholic  have a higher risk of alcohol abuse; while many also develop permanent psychological issues such as low confidence, pathological shyness etc. My personal story is about my mother who was an alcoholic. Even though she is not with us today; I can truly say that she had a big hand in the troubles that my brother and I faced in our lives.

My very first memory of her is that of her sprawled, knocked out on a bed while my younger brother who is a good 5 years my junior was just about two then and he was wailing away; the TV was blaring and my mom lay in her stupor; oblivious to the sheer terror that I was going through and my brother’s hunger. When I walked into the room, I was not exactly sure why my mom was not responding to my brother’s wailing.

For a few minutes I was incredibly petrified with thoughts of my mother lying dead on the couch raced through my head. As I cowered behind the chair, she finally stirred and I knew she was not dead. After about thirty minutes of pondering over what I should do with my baby brother I finally picked him up and tried to pacify him. But he was hungry and I did not know what to do so I filled his dirty milk bottle with some water and gave it to him. That did shut him up as my father walked in and took charge of the situation. I still remember the pained look on his face as he saw not only his children’s’ present but also their future in inevitable and imminent ruins.

My mother is no more and the only person who came close to being our parent and caring for us was our Dad. Unfortunately, my brother took after my mother in his teenage years and had quite a few altercations with the law but fortunately; he came out of it just in time to save his life. I want to say to all the people out there who live in denial of their addiction to alcohol; think about your families and what you are putting them through; look at the anguish on the faces of your kids and spouses and you will realize that  the glass of whisky or vodka is simply not worth it.