Problems with Alcoholism and Drug Abuse - Assignment Example

AA: Experience to Understand Your Full The of AA: Experience to Understand Daily each of us passes others who have such various lives that never repeat each other, but daily each of us is too busy to look into stranger’s eyes, to hear unspoken request for help. As technologies are developing fast, sometimes there is a feeling that computers are absorbing people with the light speed. How many “friends” are subscribed for our facebook pages? How much is known about each of them? The most scaring thing is that people are pretending to be social, with many close people, though in reality it looks differently – “loneliness in the crowd” is the best characteristic of the present time. So, loneliness is one of the major factors that make people start drinking, losing themselves in the alcohol and getting addicted to such a state. According to Maddux and Winstead (p. 374), “[t]he evolution in thinking about what defines addictive behavior is based in large part on the observation that a number of processes are common to excessive behaviors that have been characterized as addictive.” Still there are no exact explanations of what causes addiction to alcohol but due to all the studies several factors may be distinguished. For instance, people at young age are very sensitive to such experience because they are trying to copy their peers, to find their acceptance. It may be explained by low self-esteem and lack of character. Also, if a person is born in a family with, at least, one parent experiencing problems with alcoholism, there are more chances to follow that example than in families where there is no such a problem. Maddux and Winstead (p. 382) stated: Although alcoholism appears to run in families, it is difficult to disentangle genetic factora from environmental factors. As an example, a number of genes are believed to contribute to an individual’s susceptibility to substance dependence; thus, there may be many idiographic combinations of these genes resulting in different combinations for different people. … [And] each individual is linked, to a greater or lesser extent, to all other members of his or her culture. It is within this social fabric that patterns of belief and behaviors about alcohol and other drug use are modeled through a combination of examples, reinforcements, punishments, encouragesment. It is a challenge to admit that a problem exists because before the realization of it, there is no way to help with “fighting this demon”. There are quite many programs, medicines, trainings to help people who suffer from addiction, meanwhile, to our regret, lots of them are commercial and just a part of business aimed to get a good profit instead of helping people. The same was stated by Maddux and Winstead (p. 377): …Problems with alcoholism and drug abuse have become increasingly medicalized, and certain factions appear to have an agenda in viewing these behavious as symptoms of a disease state and convincing others to view them in a similar manner. … The label serves to make legitimate such financially lucrative efforts as hospital admissions, insurance billing, expansion of the pool of patients available for hospital admission, consulting fees, and so forth. To find an understanding what exactly is needed to help people addicted to the alcohol, I joined two different Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Before I got there, I was expecting that groups would mostly consist of men, of those ones who could not achieve anything in their lives and that those people in such meetings would not be willing to share their experiences, that there would be a depressive atmosphere. The idea that AA meetings are mostly for men is a prejudice, even though there is some sense in it: Alcoholism and other addictions have traditionally been considered problems of men; as such, it has been the study of addictive behavior among men that has shaped our understanding of the nature and course of these disorders. … Treatment methods and programs were also initially designed to treat male substance abuse; it was not unusual for women who needed treatment for addictive disorders to be places in psychiatric wards (Maddux & Winstead, p. 378). In practice I found out that in one group male-female division was equal and in the other group consisted mostly of the men. So, I found out that women were more open in a meeting where there were fewer of them. The results of various researches prove that it is harder for women to talk about alcoholism as they are more afraid of incompletion of an ideal woman image who is an excellent mother, daughter, keep of hearth. And one of the aims is to create such an atmosphere in which those women could feel secure and relaxed, not being afraid of judgment because they create real tortures to themselves in their minds. In one of the groups I was surprised to meet people who do not have any problems with drugs or alcohol but who are joining such meetings from time to time willing to share their problems in life and their own ways-out of overcoming such situations. I liked the idea of it because due to this it helps those people to participate in such kind of talks, to express their opinion and to advise something about problems that have nothing to do with alcohol. I like this “trick” because people are not concentrating on the same problem all the time and it is a great therapy, as for me. In both groups there were people of different social classes but all of them were equal as they are united with the same problem and with the common research of the solution. I have noticed that those who are new, they fight themselves to start talking sincerely because at the beginning they are trying to “decorate” the truth to make it look better than it is. Only after staying in a meeting for some time and feeling that others are sharing their experiences as it is, they start doing the same. Even if the whole process of adaptation is taking some time, as I noticed, it is leading to a positive result. What I like the most is that getting a chance to visit such meetings, I found out how important it is to be open and not to be afraid of making mistakes because: “It’s not how many times you fall that matters, it’s how many times you get back up”. So it was really a unique opportunity to understand it better. This is the saying which is well-known but only after those AA meetings the understanding of this phrase got absolutely different meaning. This world is really kind as far as there are people who are ready to offer their hand to others. These were lessons of compassion that will be kept in my mind. As it is mentioned above, before getting to the AA meetings, I was expecting that I would feel discomfort but it did not happen. Even though some situations are not close to me personally or I do not share some of the ideas I heard, still I was trying to accept everyone the way he/she was. Not always it is easy but when you avoid putting labels in your mind and expecting anything, the whole situation is changing drastically and even the speeches of those people are heard and accepted in an absolutely different way. For myself I found out that the main aim of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings is not to make people recover from alcoholism but to make them face the problem instead of hiding from it and not to be scared of asking for help. As soon as a person overcomes this barrier, it does not matter how hard it will be to go further with fighting against that “monster”. It does not mean that some of those people will overcome all the obstacles from the very first time, but, at least, they will know that they are not alone. They know that there is a place where they will find those people who will listen to them without any judgments and prejudice. It is a great victory when people start talking about those moments that make them worried. Conclusion There should be a complex treatment of the problem and “… a reasonable solution to drug or alcohol addiction is to identify molecules that oppose the actions of these substances. Much scientific efforts has been put forth based on this idea, and the results are manifested in the large variety of pharmacotherapies now available to treat addictive behavior” (Maddux & Winstead, p. 386). But even the most effective pills and medicines will never be able to replace a human factor that is why AA and other 12-step peer support groups … are the largest and most widely known self-help support groups for treating those with alcohol and other drug problems. These programs operate primarily as self-help counseling programs in which both person-to-person and group relationships are emphasized (Maddux & Winstead, p. 388). Those people who experience problems with alcoholism need someone to listen to them, someone who will not try making an impression of an ideal person, someone who will not look down nose. I think, it is a victim to consider someone worse or not deserving understanding because each person should remember that there are moments when we stumble but not all people are lucky enough to have people in their lives who would keep their hand at such a moment. To be kind with those we love is a good thing but it is not enough; we are kind only when we treat all people equally without division for “us” and “them”. There is no need to save the whole world from suffering and pain, it is enough to help, at least, to one person in this world and then he or she will get inspired enough to do the same. In such a way, this chain will never be broken. References Klostermann, K., Kelley, M. L. (n. d.). Substance use disorders. In J. E. Maddux & B. A. Winstea (Ed.), Psychopathology. Foundations for a contemporary understanding (pp. 373-398). New York, NY: Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group. Read More