ART 3170 Civic Engagement: Social Issues "Action" Project: Alcoholism & Substance Abuse

Monday, April 23, 2018

Alcoholism & Substance Abuse

Action:

Alcohol and drug abuse have become so normalized in young America that people fail to realize the detrimental impact it has on them personally and within their community. Speaking from personal experience, substance abuse can distract people from achieving their greatest potential as well as lead them into states of anxiety and depression.

Research:

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an average of 4,358 deaths each year of people under the age of 21 are alcohol related.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that alcohol can cause cognitive and learning problems, also leading to alcohol dependence. This is more common for people who decide to drink at a younger age. Alcohol can increase the chances of physical and sexual assault, even when the victim is not intoxicated. It is specifically known to cloud people’s judgment and cause serious risky behavior such as drinking and driving, having unprotected sex, and increasing aggression, which could lead to violence. As stated by an article on USnews.com, about 80 million people are “risky substance users,” which means that although they are not addicted, their use of drugs or alcohol threatens public health and safety. This ends up costing the government $468 billion every year.

Personal:

Alcoholism, especially in young adults, has a greater effect on my community than my peers and I would probably like to admit. When I graduated from high school and moved to a college campus I was consumed by an alcoholic and drug culture.

At the time I was so engulfed by the normality of substance abuse, because everyone around me seemed to be functioning with the same habits. I became this person that I did not like. I made regrettable decisions, damaged many relationships and was blind to the reasons for this. I would constantly have identity crises, because I knew who I wanted to be, but hated myself for not being that person. I failed to see that alcohol and drugs were keeping me from achieving my goals. These habits were so integrated into my life and among my peers that I completely reassigned their effects as personal problems. I felt that anything negative I was going through was because I was not being competent enough, and saw drugs as a solution more than the root to my apathy towards life.

Only now am I just starting to realize the true extent of control that drugs and alcohol have taken on me. I am glad I got to do this project because it truly reinforced these thoughts that I have been having about my relationship with my vices. Listening to my friends speak verbalized what was going on in my mind and made the effects of these substances feel more concrete. I hope this does the same to anyone in a similar situation.