Addictive substances are becoming Substance abuse and addiction can changes ones life drastractly. To me substance abuse is when one over uses or depends on an addictive substance, and can not find a way to get away from it. Substance addiction is different than substance abuse and to me it means when someone out of control, which leads to harmful consequences. Many can say my siblings and I was “sheltered” as children, but I believe my parents raised my three brothers and myself without bringing any drugs or alcohol around us to not spark our interest in them.
My parents never did drugs, but occasionally have a drink or two. Not only did my parents keep their alcohol use out of my brothers and my eyes when we were growing up so did my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I feel my parents kept it quiet because they did not want us to think drinking is okay and start at a young age. The first time my oldest brother and I touched alcohol was when we turned 21 and we have not touch an illegal addictive drugs and my two youngers brothers have not touched either alcohol or illegal addictive drugs.
Unfortunately as we grew other we became exposed to both drugs and alcohol. I can proudly say that I only had one issues with ibuprofen and only three close people in my life affected by addictive substances. I personally had an issues where I abused ibuprofen, I have a close friend that abused marijuana, a grandfather who is addicted to alcohol, and a late great uncle who was addicted to alcohol as well. As an athlete I tend to always have a sore or painful body. Most of the time I just rubbed it out and shake it off, but there was one pain I could never get over.
August 2013 I started having pain in my throwing arm and it shortly moved to my shoulder, shoulder blade, and elbow. I was 18 and able to purchase ibuprofen on my own. I first purchased and would only take it when my shoulder pain would occur during practice or games. I would only take two 200 milligram ibuprofen pills and the pain would disappear for the entire practice or game. Unfortunately my shoulder pain got worse, and so did the amount of pills I would take. I started taking four 200 milligram pills every four to six hours, and not just when I had practice or games, but also just sitting around.
This is when I started abusing the use of ibuprofen, but did not realize how bad I was actually abusing it. Taking four of these pills the pain was reduced but only for a minimal time. I ended up becoming tolerable and the painkillers stopped relieving the pain. Once | became tolerable to the ibuprofen I started contemplating to increase the dosage, but decided it was time to see a doctor about the pain instead. Thankfully I was able to take myself off the painkillers and get the help I needed. Since the day I saw the doctor and got my shoulder surgically fixed, I have reduced the amount of ibuprofen I take in.
To this day I can count on a single hand the amount of times I have taken any ibuprofen without doctor’s approval. I kept this abuse to myself and did not let any family members know I was having a issue with it. June 2016 I met a guy and we grow very close very quickly. Shortly after meeting him he informed me that he had a drug problem throughout his senior year of high school, and his freshman and sophomore year of college. He stated he started doing drugs and smoking marijuana as a social event with his friends and never thought it would become a problem.
He was clean of drugs at the time of meeting him, but he unfortunately fell back into marijuana. For three months straight I struggled with the fact he was smoking at least once a day. After we talked about it and he brought to my attention he does not find it satisfying and was planning to quit. We both noticed that he would be more irritable, angry, and was sinking into depression by noon if he did not smoke that morning. He struggled for a month with depression and withdrawal, but I stood by his side and he was able to overcome the lack of and complete termination of marijuana in his life.
It was very difficult for me and I had to learn to manage my emotions. I found myself getting upset and negative towards him, but after I realized he needed positivity and support I changed my emotions and he got through it and has been clean for three months. Switching now to alcohol my grandfather is currently battling an addiction to alcohol. He personally does not look at it as an addiction rather than just a drink he enjoys. I believe he does not see it as an addiction because he does not feel an effect while drinking, and is able to drink many beers without getting drunk.
He started socially drinking in his teen years and continued his drinking as he grew older. It was not unusual for my grandfather to drink more than five Coors Light beers a day. He unfortunately had a setback last December when he was diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the Liver and many medical complications that affected his kidneys. Due to his medical condition and medical personals request he is slowing down how much beer he consuming. There are not many emotions that run through my family because most of them are in denial.
They do not believe he has an addiction and blame his medical complications on his past career as a mechanic. I have noticed and accepted that he does have an addiction and my emotions ride a rollercoaster. Seeing him struggle at times I get frustrated and upset because I can not change his mind and get him the help he needs. My fourth and final experience was my great uncle and his addiction to alcohol, most commonly Jack Daniels. I personally do not have much information on his addiction as he became very distance from the family.
After he passed away from Cirrhosis of the Liver my family did some investigations in his house. We were able to gather that he started due to losing his father and having his depression lead to more psychological issues. My family was also able to determine he consumed at least one fifth of Jack Daniels a day. Sadly that was all the information we were able gather and my family’s emotions went in every direction. Many of them felt overwhelmed and upset, while others felt guilty and angry with themselves for not stepping in and helping him.
Theses four experiences that really opened my eyes on substance abuse and addiction and how quickly a substance can take over your life. As difficult as these experiences can be I do feel they are beneficial to one’s life. Theses experiences can show you how dangerous these substances are and teaches you valuable lessons about them. Substance abuse and substance addiction are being more popular and affects almost everyone in the world. The more | hear of people affected by these situations the more I want to make a to these terrible experiences.
