Lost3000

So yesterday I had to go through some files at work and a huge stack of them were from the M.E. (medical examiner). They were printouts of deaths in the last few months from several U.S. states. I was searching for specific data but then noticed something. The numbers of death related to alcohol were many. And the ages of the dead...ranged from 20s to 70s and up. I was shocked. Over and over again I saw someone 20-ish dead from alcohol poisoning or related. I don't think people realize, I know I didnt, here on this forum or out there in the world... You think you are immune because you are young, you feel healthy or you don't have any major health problems. But that drink you are having can be your very last, you can drop dead at any moment.

I see people here a lot posting, myself included, about how they want to quit, know they need to, are going to. They post about the terrible feelings they have now, the terrible things happening to them. Yet they don't quit.

I'm not judging them, I was one myself not that long ago. I posted a couple of years back about these same things. And now I'm thinking, good god, would you just quit already?? It's frustrating to see all the relapses, all the "I want to quit" posts, and then see the reports I viewed yesterday.

You can't tell people what to do, can't judge them. Just hope they don't fall along the wayside and end up on my report. I bet you old timers feel so sad for us newbies and us that haven't quit, because you know how great life is sober. I'm sober now and am on day 69 (I actually had to figure that day out, I've forgotten it.) And I love my sober life. As long as I can possibly, physically do it, I will not drink again.

TheRandomPotato

Thank you for sharing that information. back when i was in school they never fully talked about or discussed the dangers of alcohol or getting addicted to it. I was drinking heavy for 10 years and now im 1½ month sober but its hard with the withdrawals and the body in shambles. I used to date a girl back in the day who wokred at the hospital and she woul tell me stories about alcoholics coming in that had health issues. Some could barley even walk. Staying sober is the best thing ive done so far, its like being reborn again.

justhadenough

I agree. I also think that when you are young you feel immune and immortal. Or you just don't care. Very scary. It is only with age that I have actually started to care about my life.

2granddaughters

I couldn't listen to my parents and others trying to help me when I was drinking.
That doesn't take away from their "truths" though.
Hope they got your attention Lost.

Wishing you the best.

Bob R

Lost3000

I know, huh? Alcoholism, in the Western hemisphere, is viewed very negatively, yet you don't get much of an education on it. So you are left with whatever you see around you. I saw drunks on benches, homeless, so I decided I wasn't an alcoholic because I wasn't them. I totally agree with your statement about being reborn.

Caroline Knapp wrote about this in Drinking, A Love Story. She talked about how our memory is so short term, and because later on the next day we weren't hungover, we'd forget about the night before's misery and drink up again! Also, she used an analogy I don't exactly recall, something about how if our alcoholism was a broken arm, we wouldn't forget, and wouldn't go skiing day after day with the broken arm.

Reading those reports only solidified my decision to get sober. I'm bummed I didn't do it years ago, but am glad I did it this year. I am glad to be looking forward, not backward. Thanks Bob R.

Elisabeth888

I bet quite a few deaths are from head injuries. I know I fell and hit my head a couple of times and the only reason I did not have a serious injury is probably because of how drunk and "relaxed" I was.

A guy in my meeting today had a giant gash on his head and I did not even have to wonder what that might be from.

Lost3000

I'm sure many of the deaths were due to an alcohol related accident, but the specific numerous deaths I'm talking about that I saw on the M.E.'s result were due directly to alcohol. Things like alcohol poisoning, liver failure, cirrhosis, etc. I mean the actual cause of death.

I thought cirrhosis would be found in a 50 year old, not a 20 year old. Perhaps they should make these reports public so that others could see how easy it is to die from drinking. That one drunk of yours could have you dead in seconds.

laurie6781

I live in a city that has a State University. Enrollment is usually from 16,000 to 18,000+ per semester.

It never fails, but there are I would say on average at least 2 to 3 deaths a semester due directly to Alcohol Poisoning and they are usually between the ages of 18 and 21.

Although I have now been sober many many years it still 'brings me up short' every time I read of another one.

I understand what you are saying Lost, but I can remember back to my 'drinking' years and remember having that mental attitude of 'not me, it won't happen to me', whether the 'it' was a dui, an accident while drunk, alcohol poisoning, or anything bad to do with alcohol. I think that attitude is still prevalent today among those practicing their alcoholism.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

GirlFromCO

Absolutely - it's part of the delusion that enables people to continue the insanity.

I kind of wish those reports were public too, Lost. There's so much dis- and misinformation about alcoholism floating around, especially in the age of the internet. The truth is, drying from alcohol is a lot easier than you'd think.

Lost3000

I was one of those, that was full of the "yets" (I have a thread on that) and yet still thought that the worst that could happen to me *might* be a DUI. Death never really crossed my mind. Towards the end, however, I do remember lying in bed totally wasted, with my heart rapidly beating, thinking, could I die? And the answer is YES.

That's why I wish the reports were public. Because while you and I hear of the 1 or 2 in the news, in actuality there are tens of people dying. I mean page after page of the report showed me that. That's what was so shocking. I bet for every one we hear about in the news there are another 20 we don't hear about.

BUT, reading the report while in the midst of my insanity might not, in fact likely not, have done anything. I had plenty of excuses and rationalizations and wouldn't have seen the reports in a clear light like I do now.

Definitely. I remember the delusions. Now that I'm sober I think back and wonder, WTH was I thinking??? It's crazy!!