Many of us who drink too much have an ongoing fear about the physical damage we are doing to our bodies, not so much about the spiritual dilemma we face to enable recovery. We worry about the obvious – liver failure – and have a morbid fascination with the high profile personalities who literally drink themselves to death, such as George Best. Reassurance is needed our drinking is nowhere near as bad as that. Despite symptoms such as passing blood. Nonetheless we continue to drink.
Physical Effects
We also notice the physical effects when we temporarily stop drinking. We feel sick and dry mouthed, we sweat and shake. However, once through the first 24 hours or so, we begin to feel a lot better. We sleep better, have more energy and see signs that we can recover physically after all. If we go for any medical tests we might even find that our liver function and blood tests are not so bad – which gives us the green light to carry on drinking.
I have known people personally who have drink so much that they die from the physical effects. Their organs fail and often this is eventually accompanied by internal bleeding. The doctors try and stem the internal flow of blood but as quickly as they deal with one bleed, another erupts somewhere else. It is a slow and horrible death.
That said, if you are an alcoholic drinker and stop now, there is a good chance that your body will recover. The liver is an amazing organ. Even people with cirrhosis can go on to live for many years if they stop drinking.
I am fortunate in that there appears to have been no long lasting physical damage from my years of drinking. I am fit and healthy at the moment. My blood pressure is good, my weight is in a normal range (I used to be far too thin as I drank instead of eating), my energy levels are extremely high, my eyes and skin are clear and I feel great. I am very rarely ill (I used to pick up a lot of so called ‘stomach upsets’ and bugs when drinking).
Spiritual Dilemma
While many of us drinkers worry about the physical effects on our health. It is actually the mental and spiritual effects that kill more people. Alcoholism is a mental illness which leads people into a depressed state and being spiritually bankrupt . We get panic attacks. Full of guilt, shame and remorse. Cannot remember things from one hour to the next. Become unreliable, argumentative and not very pleasant to be around. Isolate and push people away. Neglect our friends and our social life dwindles.
Our spirituality is depleted. We feel worthless and see little point in anything. Exist rather than live. However not be brave enough to take our own lives but we might wish we could go to sleep and not wake up.
From the previous articles relating my story. I think it is obvious that I am now fully mentally and spiritually recovered. I will always be an alcoholic. Working on my recovery is paramount,and I need to work on this for the rest of my life. There is no cure and I would not want to get complacent that I am ‘recovered’ and ‘cured’ as that could lead me back to that first damaging drink.