Early this morning my uncle (my mom's brother) passed away. He has been battling alcoholism since I can remember. It finally got so bad, his liver stopped functioning due to cirrhosis. Once one organ fails, the others follow suit, including your brain.

It's really a horrible way to die. He basically killed himself. The alcohol ate away at his liver until it was mush. And he didn't drink beer or wine, it was the hard stuff; the cheap hard stuff. Our family keeps asking why he did this to himself. They say it could've been prevented. They're right, but what they don't realize is what a tough disease it is to cope with.

In the simplest terms, alcoholism is a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to drink. It's similar to someone with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). They have a compulsion to something that they can't usually control whether it be washing their hands excessively or continually checking to make sure the lights are off. They can't help it as alcoholics can't help needing to drink. Everyone has some sort of mental obsession. Think of the day when that catchy tune was stuck in your head. It played over and over. There was something going on in your head that you didn't put there and no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn't get it out. That's an example of a simple mental obsession--a thought process that you can't control. Alcoholism is the same way.

Since alcoholism is a progressive disease, it usually sneaks up on the sufferer. They don't realize the point when alcohol has taken control of their life. There are treatments available but currently no cure. My uncle did want to get help. He was admitted to the hospital several times. He went to rehab. He even tried medications to curb his compulsion for alcohol. However, everytime he started doing well, he would relapse. He just wasn't committed to taking control and refraining from drinking. All the interventions and treatments in the world probably wouldn't have helped my uncle. Our family can and will bombard themselves with "what ifs" but they need to realize it is a disease, a preventable one, yes, but a disease nonetheless. Just as a cancer patient will eventually die from their disease unless they seek treatment, an alcoholic will most likely die unless they choose to seek proper treatment to control their disease.



*April is Alcohol Awareness Month