Death By Alcohol

Alcoholism is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States (niaaa.nih.gov). In an article addressing the challenges related to alcoholism, the recent pandemic and the current social climate, Dr. George Koob, director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said, “More people may drink…more heavily to cope with stress…increasing their risk for alcohol use disorder and other adverse consequences. Although alcohol…dampens the brain and body’s response to stress, feelings of stress and anxiety not only return, but worsen, once the alcohol wears off. Over time…alcohol consumption can cause adaptations in the brain that intensify the stress response. As a result, drinking alcohol to cope can make problems worse and one may end up drinking to fix the problem that alcohol caused.” (George Koob) Such ill-fated steps taken in the name of addressing a problem can lead to even darker places than that from which we tried to escape by drinking. My niece Sasha did that. She was lonely and depressed due to a combination of factors, some of which could’ve changed and some others out of her control. Either way, she drank to ease her pain. Like the other 60,000 people who die annually from alcoholism (CDC), Sasha began with experimentation. During that period, there were no behavioral changes and nobody knew she was stepping onto the path that would lead away from her giggly group of friends. During the social stage of her developing addiction, Sasha only drank with friends. She probably had early symptoms of alcoholism during those early twenties, but nobody noticed. By the time the instrumental stage developed, her own children had come along. She drank at home where family and friends from the outside couldn’t see how much and how often she drank; trapped in plain sight. Nobody saw she was trying to stay numb all the time, and that she was drinking more and more; that she had developed a tolerance to alcohol. Nobody thought her behavior was strange at the beginning of this stage. By the final stage; the compulsive stage, Sasha tried like most alcoholics, to hide her addiction. Family relationships had fallen apart and she had cut off everything healthy in her life. Those who reached out to her were rebuffed; shut out. Finally, she sent her children to grandparents for two weeks and literally finished drinking herself to death. My family is mourning the loss of a young mother of three. She died of multiple organ failure incident to alcoholism. She was 31 years old. Toward the end, she was living solely on the poison that killed her. It was a tragic and painful death, one swallow at a time. Please, be well. 1-800-662-HELP (4357)