Drinking Alcohol Regularly Can Ruin Your Health and Your Life - It Ruined My Brother's Life

Do you know someone who is an alcoholic?

Do you know someone who drinks too much alcohol every single day?

My brother was an alcoholic. He couldn't get away from drinking. Do you want to know why?

Read this article to understand what alcohol dependence can do to you and how it can ruin your health and your life.

Alcohol dependence

Drinking alcohol on a regular basis can be harmful. The more alcohol you have, the more it gets into the bloodstream and starts attacking the immune system. Consuming alcohol regularly can also turn you into an alcoholic, as the effects of the alcohol will start to become a habit, then an addiction. Once addiction takes over, it is harder to get away from it. Do you think you are on the verge of becoming alcohol dependent? If so, please do not ignore it. Get help!

My brother drank alcohol daily

I remember when my brother was only fifteen years old when he had his first drink. It was a mistake for him to drink alcohol as he got to like it too much and he didn't want to stop.

Our granddad was a raging alcoholic too and it seemed to run in our family. My brother, Louie, began drinking secretly in his room at first or going out with a friend who also liked a drink, but it was only him who continued to drink regularly.

He slowly got into the habit, wanting alcohol regularly, like twice a week. It didn't ruin his school life but it did ruin his work life in the end. He was a painter and decorator and trained at college, eventually becoming a professional. He had a talent and he had a knack for design when it came to changing a look of a particular room. He was brilliant at his job and was always in demand for work, but his drinking addiction became a problem.

Things would happen and it would ruin his work life. For instance, when he started his new job working for a company as their regular designer, and on one particular occasion when it was someone's birthday, he got invited to a pub during his lunch break. Well, he was doomed the minute he stepped into the pub. The smell of the drink was already on his lips and the taste of that first drink was a mistake. He got very drunk and was sent home for the rest of the day. He should have turned up for work the next day, but instead, he went out drinking and eventually he lost his job. Whatever it was that made him like that, he knew he could never have a drink again!

This sort of thing carried on for another year. He was in and out of jobs too. Also, the drink was starting to change him, making him violent and angry whenever he drank. In the end, he had to move out of our parent's house, because he was so reckless and drunk all the time, and he would always be starting arguments with everyone. By this time, he was in his early 20's.

Twenty-five years later

Still, 25 years later and he was worse than ever. His life had been literally thrown away because his liver deteriorated, which he was told would kill him if he didn't stop drinking.

Horrible health emergencies began to occur. For instance, he nearly died from a bleeding ulcer and was luckily saved by having an operation at the hospital, which left him with a huge scar. Of course, he still carried on drinking.

He began to lose weight and looked awful. He resorted to living in a room in a house all on his own. He had nothing in his life and no one. No one wanted a relationship with him because he couldn't give up the drink. People looked at him like he was weird because he was constantly drunk and kept falling over whenever he was out walking the streets. He always looked shabby and he appeared to others as if he was mentally ill in some way.

He had gotten help twice. He went into a home for rehabilitation where he had his own private room and was put on detox medication to help stop his alcohol addiction. Of course, this did not last, as he walked out 8 days later when the medication was stopped. He couldn't cope without the medication and I never understood why they took him off it. What he really needed was for someone to help him one-to-one!

It was a problem for him. When the medication stopped, he had trouble coping with himself and things had always got so bad for him. He felt lost without the drink and I guess he was severely depressed! We wondered why his doctor didn't put him on depression medication which was weird.

He ended up drinking again just to help him cope with life. He depended on it because if he didn't have it he would end up having an epileptic fit.

He didn't know how to cope with life after coming off the medication that he was taking when in rehabilitation so he resorted to giving up. He couldn't cope with the pain and he didn't know how to get the help he needed. I tried to help him by getting him to see his GP but back then people were not so considerate. I believed he was badly depressed before he started drinking alcohol but nobody saw that in him.

What alcohol does to you

When I first wrote this article he was 39 years old. His life never really began because he was so stuck on alcohol. He had become an old man too quickly. If he carried on this way he would not live for much longer. He drank every day because he needed it. If he went without a drink for a day, he would end up having an epileptic fit. At this point, he couldn't cope without having alcohol in his system.

He, eventually, was diagnosed with a full-blown damaged liver at age 35. He was told that he would die if he carried on drinking alcohol. He would die of liver failure. It was very sad for all of us to look at him in this way because we tried our best to help him. He just didn't want to be helped anymore.

My brother's alcohol addiction became very hard for him over the years. He could not cope with life because of it and it ruined his health.

My brother's health went downhill from the age of 35. His liver was severely damaged. Doctors told him 3 years before he turned 35 that he would die if he did not stop drinking. Our parents were very worried about him but he would not stop.

Five years before he died, he got thrown out of his room in the house he was living in because of his drinking problem. Neighbors said he was a nuisance. So, he ended up walking the streets and living on them. His life went even further downhill.

He did not care

He started to not care about himself. I let him stay with us occasionally but he was just too much of a battle to have him in the house all the time. He did not want to stop drinking. He drank all day and all night, and then he would fall asleep on the sofa. It was not something we could handle!

He drank cheap cider to medicate himself. It was not the thing to do because the cheap cider he was drinking was worse than any other alcoholic drink.

Eventually, his legs started to swell up and he could not walk. This was the first sign that his body was at risk because his liver was failing. He did not care that this was happening. We think he gave up wanting to live a long time before this happened.

Depression

He wanted to give up the alcohol but the way it made him feel when he tried was very hard for him. He was severely depressed but he would not get the help he badly needed. We now think that he was scared to do it. We always tried to help him but each time he would refuse it. He wanted to give up!

On his birthday, 11th April 2011, our mother passed away. She had suffered from breast cancer but in the end, she died of a massive heart attack (you can read about this here). My brother was very emotional and went even further downhill. He could not believe that his own mother had died on his 42nd birthday. He was devastated more than all of us! But what was to come was going to be even more devastating for all of us.

Liver failure

Six months after our mother passed, his health was worse and on 20th September 2011 he passed away from liver failure and kidney failure. He was 42 years old. We were all devastated and felt awful that this had happened. All we wanted to do was help him but he would never accept it!

So, if anyone thinks that they could be on the verge of becoming an alcoholic then please get some help. Alcohol abuse can really mess up your life! Think before you drink! I know it's hard to refuse alcohol but drinking big amounts of it every day could cause problems. Please be aware!

Stop drinking or try to space it out

If you are suffering from depression and feel you want to drink alcohol then be very careful. Depression and alcohol do not go together. See a doctor. Do not drown yourself in alcohol because it could make your depression much worse than it is!

My brother was probably depressed before he drank or perhaps, the drink made him depressed. The drink also ruined the way he looked in later life.

If you know of anyone that regularly drinks alcohol, or is starting to, please help them to stop or pass this article on to them to read. Everyone should think twice about drinking alcohol regularly. You are at risk of becoming addicted if you don't stop!

I am not a doctor and do not know everything but I have had experience with dealing with my brother's addiction.

This article is also published on Medium.com

Denise Larkin is a writer and fiction author. She writes about her experiences on most topics.