Personal Ethical Dilemma on Alcoholism Essay

Prior to Grade 11, whenever I heard the words substance abuse my thought immediately pictured useless, sorrowful and stupid people who were ruining their lives for no reason. My notion began to change some as I moved through my last schooling years but even with an ever-increasing donnish workload I would never even consider any substance as a latent hostility reliever.The circumstances which made me think long and hard about my life started with a relatively acquitted incident cardinal day in chemistry class. The teacher announced that we would be starting primitive chemistry and asked the class to name the chapter they wished to start. Alcohols, of course said several people.It wasnt until a classmates party that I realized exactly how many of my friends were imbibing. Not only were they drinking, they were also trying to change me to join them. I immediately declined and also urged them to drive away, advising them that their lives were deteriorating. Of course, my advic e went unheeded. It was much easier to convince one person to start drinking than convince twenty to stop.As time passed, however I realized that my friends were having the time of their lives. Clubbing one week to party hopping the next, each time with alcohol, each time without me. Instead of a feeling of integrity, pangs of grief troubled my brain every time I thought of my friends.It was my life, not theirs that was deteriorating. Every week my psyche would be loaded with academic work while my friends would fill themselves up and urge me to join.As weeks passed I began to grow more distant from my classmates and soon realized that I was fighting a losing battle against staying drab in an effort to keep my friends. Ultimately, I would be forced to choose between being a loner and being an alcoholic, between my friendships and my liver. Of course, I still did have a group of classmates who never touched(p) drink but losing nearly half the people I grew up with to alcohol was difficult to stomach. last it took a considerable amount of thought and several leaflets from Alcoholics Anonymous to convince me that my life wasnt worth wasting.My dilemma dramatically changed my perspectives on life. I acquire to be much more far spy and began to resist the temptations of alcohol. I also began to value and appreciate my life more. To my immense relief, I also learned to mingle with my friends attend their parties without laying my hands on a drink.Although I still wish my friends would stop drinking, I no longer think of them or any substance abuser as pathetic or stupid. As I remember the days when I could so easily have joined them, I simply think of them as people who have made the wrong choice.