A Scary Effect of Alcohol Abuse

A Scary Effect of Alcohol Abuse

A scary effect of alcohol––many stories can leap out from the darkness, the least of which might be of splitting hangovers following a night of drinking. Some stories cry out the pain of having lost a loved one, or even worse of one maimed by a person driving over the legal limit.

Of particular concern to me were stories shared by students in confidence about a parent in denial about an alcohol addiction. Their social and emotional effects begged for action. The teacher hopes that with help the student’s emotional scars would heal. Help doesn’t always come. Help isn’t always effective. Then what? Marking, lesson preparation and demands from other students leave little time to consider any long-term effects of a child’s abuse.

Then one day an alcohol-abused child’s reality hit. It was like seeing an unlucky hiker have part of her leg blown off. Instead of seeing a bleeding leg, arm, or face, words of fear, anger and vulnerability spewed out like a volcano spitting out its unwanted burning lava and boulders injuring close by family and friends.

A guarded thirty-year truth slowly crawls out to gentle listening ears. Weird actions of this strange person, this abused person begin to make sense. The shield of distrust returns. The opportunity for healing fades, but the lesson that a child’s psychological scars can last for a lifetime remains. The sins of the drinking parent can inflict harm to the child, the child's future family and future friends.

The horror is this nitroglycerine personality walks among us, undetected until it blows up. The volatile abused person often is unfairly faulted for reactions it had no real desire to release. The cause, the alcohol abusive parent, remains hidden, unchecked, unhealed.

The adult life of a victim-child is featured in my novel Baggage burdens. Her story, Jill’s story, is one of a teenage girl who flees from home because of her drinking father. The survival lessons she learned at home guide her as she attempts to rebuild her life. Unfortunately her defensive strategies often create more troubles in her life. What’s the answer? Jill doesn’t find out until her life hits bottom, like that of an alcoholic. Her road to healing forces her to face facts she would rather avoid.  

Jill’s hell

Overflowing with confidence from her year of weight training and the school’s women’s defensive course, Jill confronted her drunken father in the kitchen. She dared to challenge his behavior. Result: a neck jarring slap in the face. With pent up fury Jill delivered a similar action.

Her father exploded.

Jill deflected his first swing. More swiftly followed. His first direct hit landed Jill on the floor. Her single opportunity to escape resulted in him grabbing her hair and yanking her back. Sitting on her, he slapped her left and right again and again until Jill’s mother struck his head with a cast iron frying pan. Police were called again. Warnings were issued. Promises were made. Three weeks passed before Jill’s bruises disappeared, and she could face her classmates.

haiku capsule:

Alcohol anger

life long scars haunt grandchildren

party hangover

                   

Next blog: Help?––Hell no.