Falling Out of Life with a Never Ending Struggle

I never went too overboard and had no big problems, till I realised that one indeed ‘big problem’ stared me right in the face: I was addicted to alcohol. I couldn’t think of a single day without it. I write this because the struggle of an alcoholic to get out of his or her daily habit desperately is a global issue. I wish to constantly remind the alcoholics world over that they are not alone in their struggle, at all.

I can probably list dozens of things I did during my long struggle with the problem. But it is fruitless. There is no point in highlighting the things which I feel is not important to be told. I feel that this article would not be needed if everyone shared my view. So, here I am writing this post to point out the effect it has on the people around the addict.

People around the addicts are the ones who suffer the most in the difficult journey, more than the addict. They are the ones who pay the price for his/her habit; we can’t blame the addict at all.

My family didn’t drink so. I never had alcohol until my college days. I discovered that during the college times, it was a good way of relaxing. I was around a lot of folks who used it as a means of relieving themselves from the stress and tension of the academic life in the college.

After some time, alcohol became more of a need than anything else. As more pressure and stress built up, the urge to have it also increased. So something that was taken for relaxation, occasionally, gradually turned into a habit. I kept it away from family. I made promises to myself to never drink during working days only to break with added frequency.

Once out of the college, I found a job. I again started to drink purportedly to deal with my extensive pressure and stress at the work place. This subsequently hit my work adversely.

What did alcoholism do to me? I was abandoned by my family, after all their money, time and efforts to de-addict me came a cropper. I was left to fend for myself and was on the streets; I was robbed, mugged and raped. I was frustrated, with my job loss for screwing things up at the work, and I sold out all properties to fund my habits.

I became so sick of giving everything away; I decided to do something about it. I realized that it’s too late to bring back that change, but I had to make it happen. I got exhausted. All those hard work and achievements, all went down the drains. I never can save up any money to get a new life again. I lost all hopes.

That’s when I came across an old friend, he gave me hope again. He referred me to a de-addiction centre. From then on life changed for me all over again. I was able to start all over again, right from the scratch, and make a new beginning with new hopes and faith.