When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not realize that alcohol abuse in point of fact was a sub category of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people throughout the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol rehabilitation and the various alcohol rehab programs that are habitually available to abusive drinkers.

Some of the harmful end results linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class unquestionably scared me. The ruined lives and countless serious issues experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In short, I did not want to face the wreckage and ruination that alcohol addicted people almost always experience.

Think about this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old teenager wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that drinking alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What young person wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related problems before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What teenager wants to experience alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause problems in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a young person want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that revolves around excessive drinking?

These issues were so significant that I talked about some of them in class throughout the school year. What was entirely astonishing to me was the number of students who openly didn’t care about the negative effects of excessive drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t care less about reality and how these outcomes can destroy their lives. For the first time in my life I started to comprehend something that my grandfather used to say to me throughout my younger years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.

Tags: alcohol rehab clinics, self improvement, mental health, alcohol treatment, drug abuse