Alcoholism and Addiction among the spinal injured are problems that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored. There is so much depression, despair, anxiety and pain after an injury it isn’t difficult to turn to alcohol and/or abuse prescribed medications. This is especially true if the victim of the SCI has a history, predisposition or genetic makeup for addiction.
Before I was injured, I had a very troubled childhood that included an alcoholic father and an extremely codependent mother who after divorcing my father for raping my older half sister, raised the 5 of us in an atmosphere of guilt and shame. Although my father beat her mercilessly and kidnapped me at age 3 ½ for 3 weeks and molested me before my mother could find me, she never hit us. She controlled our behavior instead with guilt trips and shame based innuendo. My mother nor I never knew I had been sexually abused until I was in was therapy 3 years for severe depression, anxiety and advanced alcoholism.
I began therapy after my drinking started affected my work and career at age 28. I entered an intensive outpatient treatment program called a “partial program” because I attended 4 days a week 4 hours a day. They offered one on one, group, occupational and a special “feelings” therapy.
(to be continued)
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please feel free to be as open, honest, blunt, and real as think you need to when leaving your comment. any of you who can relate to any one of my issues or takes offense to something I've written I'd especially like to hear from. I'm sorry to say that any comments left anonymously will not be published whether positive or negative. however, i still appreciate the insight and value the opinion. Thanks, L.A.M.B.