By Q Hubo News Team
Addiction has been a pandemic that has existed for centuries. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism the rate of alcohol related ED visits increased 47% between 2006 and 2014. Abusive alcohol use has been an issue for many Americans and their families. Becky, a community resident from Lancaster is one of these individuals who have admitted to have struggled with this in a deep way.
Becky grew up in a household where her dad was missing due him to being in jail. Her mom? her mom was abused in her childhood and never healed from that trauma. Becky was the recipient of her mom’s trauma. At times she was emotionally and physically abusive of Becky.
“Early-childhood trauma is strongly associated with developing mental health problems, including alcohol dependence, later in life. People with early-life trauma may use alcohol to help cope with trauma-related symptoms” NIH. Becky’s life trauma did not stop after she became an adult. She entered a relationship that turned out to be an abusive one. The relationship lasted 4 years and while she was able to scape it, the residual effects stayed with her.
She was able to leave the abuse but then something tragic happened. Her best friend, her lifelong friend died. The cause of death was due to her best friend’s fiancé stabbing her to death. Becky was devastated and alcohol became her coping mechanism.
But this did not stop her from realizing that she needed help. After hitting rock bottom she decided that her path meant she needed to seek help. “Out of the 21.6 million people aged 12 or older who needed substance use treatment in the previous year, 12.2% (2.6 million) received substance use treatment at a specialty facility in the past year.”American Addiction Centers. According to Becky, seeking help and actually wanting to stop are components necessary to stop drinking.
Becky, like many others, had her first beer at the age of 12. It was not until a year later that she started drinking in a toxic way. Research suggest that 12 is a common year that youth start drinking or need assistance to stop this behavior.
Her realization that she needed to stop happened when she got out of jail after being there for 45 days. She did not stop drinking after getting out. She continued to drink. She thought that as long as drinking and driving was not happening, she was going to be fine. One night at the bar she used to work at she passed out from drinking. The tragedy did not stop there. A customer whom she had met only once before raped her that night. Becky was in disbelief. She needed a change, she needed to stop drinking.
She advises those who want to stop drinking to seek professional help. To do research and get educated in the topic. Her recovery is a personal process. We wanted to respect Becky’s privacy by not sharing a picture of her or her full name. Becky said that this story is not about her, its about addiction and recovery. Her story is one of many that show the importance of healing and seeking help when we need it.