You don't have to drink alcohol...
...to die from the disease of alcoholism.
I posted this in the "What is Recovery?" forum, but I wanted to post it here as well for my Friends & Families family!
This disease kills, and recovery is a life-or-death issue for alcoholics, addicts and their families.
Over the years in Al-Anon, I have known some beautiful people who have died as a direct result of this disease, and they were not alcoholics or substance-abusing addicts themselves (at least not to my knowledge). Two men that I knew for years in Al-Anon meetings took their own lives. In my opinion, one is too many. For the disease of alcoholism, a thousand is never enough...
I sometimes feel (and I may be wrong here) that there are those recovering in Al-Anon in my area who have an "oh-it's-not-that-bad-I-can-get-by-on-one-meeting-a-week-if-I-have-the-time" kind of approach to recovery. This is not an option for me. Just as alcoholism was a way of life in my home as I grew up, today recovery is the way of life that I choose.
Al-Anon is my anti-depressant, my anti-psychotic, my anti-"everything I learned growing up about self-abuse, self-hatred and slow self-destruction". If I don't take this life-saving medication as directed, with regularity, this disease will do its level best to kill me. That's what the disease of alcoholism does: it kills people affected by it. It does this with tenacity and precision. It refuses to stop, and it grows stronger with time. Move over Ah-nold---alcoholism is the real Terminator...
I once heard a woman share that "you don't have to drink alcohol to die from the disease of alcoholism". I can say it no better than that.