It's actually life and death...
 

This morning at a meeting, one of the regulars had relapsed again.

This engendered discussion about the grave nature of alcoholism and addiction. Those of us who are still "high functioning" or were "high bottom" or who have not yet "gotten THAT bad" often easily overlook the reality.

One of the long timers who I greatly admire and respect and look up to commented "I've been around these tables 26 years, and I long ago lost track of how many people I've seen almost make it, go out again, and never come back."

It got me thinking and I realized that in the roughly 3 years I've put in around the tables in my serious efforts of sobriety - I've seen 4 friends DIE.

Dead.

Gone.

Relapsed one too many times.

Sure.... dead is where it ends up for all of us - sober or not. But for me, personally, I want to go out at the end of a long, rich, rewarding, happy life. Not off a cliff or OD'd or blacked out and drowned or in the ICU after killing a family.....

Sometimes, when we're caught up in it and justifying and rationalizing and seeing ourselves as "not as bad as those other folks" - it's easy to dismiss the reality.

If you've found your way to this forum - the chances are very, very, very good that recovery for you is the difference between life and death.

Literally.

I agree 100%. It is truly life or death with addiction. I want to live!

Yep. It is life or death.
Sadly, for alcoholics, the death is usually long and drawn out. I see living in active addiction as a fate worse than death, actually.

Thanks FreeOwl. It is true that some people miss the severity of alcoholism. Thank you for the reminder.

I had an alcoholic family member who was sitting on the couch. Then he fell off it. Dead.

Another family member needed a liver transplant.

And you know what? Even with that having happened, I still drank. It took a good while for me to see the severity of alcoholism. Eventually I did. And your post is a great reminder.

Thank you for the reminder. I've had family die from it. My little brother has come within seconds of death and still drinks.

Recovery really is the decision between life and death.

Thanks FO

Wise words and so very true. When I saw my doctor after my last relapse, my liver enzyme numbers were through the roof. He was very concerned when the test results came back and basically told me I could be one relapse away from permanent liver damage or possibly death. That was a wake-up call.

Free Owl,
Thanks for the reminder...... none of us is immune.
Have a great day.
Jonathan

I went to rehab with a woman who died a few months ago. 36. She was drunk and fell down the stairs while carrying a basket of laundry. Snapped her neck. Her two young children found her. Awful.

Thank you for the reminder.

Hi FreeOwl, I posted the other day that I have (somewhere along the line) developed a healthy fear of alcohol. Its almost irrational because its just a liquid that sits in a bottle or can.