Tragic as this accident is, it highlights something quite close to my heart; alcohol abuse. Now I enjoy a drink as much as the next person, and to be honest I do hit it pretty hard when I go out. But alcohol abuse is, quite obviously, a huge problem. And however horrible this accident is, I can only hope it further highlights the issue, and considering how drunk he was, I can hardly say I'm surprised at what happened. I just think it's a shame that his reckless behaviour cost the lives of him and his friend. Ultimately, his bahaviour was immature, selfish, and just plain stupid.
Of course, highly-preventable accidents and deaths like this are only one end of the spectrum. The other end is that of alcoholics, who (at least in the eyes of the general public and those not particularly educated on the topic) selfishly drink themselves into an early grave, sapping the health system for all its worth and having things handed to them regardless of the damage they continue to do to themselves.
One of the main stigmas attached to alcoholics and their relationship with the NHS claims the service puts them at top priority above other patients. As the son of an alcoholic father whose lives failed three times before he died at age 41, I can safely say this is absolutely fucking ridiculous.
Now I'm not sticking up for alcoholics, and I don't think for a second they deserve treatment above patients suffering the likes of cancer and liver disorders, quite the opposite, in fact. In my opinion they should get very little physical treatment (other than emergency) unless the alcoholic has the strength to stand up to what is an addiction and mental disorder and do something about it because, at the end of the day, slip ups are far too common and easy, and the new liver and treatment will simply be abused.
I personally think the stigma attached to alcoholism is totally unfair and undeserved, and, as with any stigmas, reinforced by people who really have no idea on the issue. Having seen first hand the devastating effect it has, not only on the family and friends of the alcoholic, but on the alcoholic themself, you see somebody with absolutely no control over what can only be described as a mental disorder. It works the same way as smoking, it's an addiction and a dependence, and dependent personalities are very often inherited. You just have to look at my brother and his dependency on marijuana to see how these sort of personalities are often in fact an inherited disorder. They're very rarely, if ever, a choice, and people should stop viewing them as such.
When my own father was in hospital (on many occasions) having drank his body into destruction, what I remember is very different from the "mollycoddled" care described above. The nurses treated him like a teenager who had drank too much on a night out, as a drain on their resources and a total inconvenience. For a five year old to walk through a ward and be perfectly aware of the nurses whispering to each other and giving disapproving looks regarding the young family affected by this is awful, and totally upsetting. We were dealing with it in our own way, we didn't need their sympathy and/or disapproval.
So I guess the point of this is to try and lift some of the stigmas attached to alcoholics, and to show it goes a lot deeper than people who binge drink. It's a mental illness. Whilst I don't think surgery and physical treatment are an effective, or even fair way or treating alcoholics, I do believe more emphasis should be put into the mental treatment. The dependency disorder needs to be addressed, otherwise physical treatment is a waste of time, money, and resources. The fact of the matter remains that alcoholics receive far more public "shame" and disapproval over something they can't control, than a young man who makes the choice to drink and drive and ends up killing himself and another person. No, that becomes an absolute tragedy.
Anyway, fairly deep topic tonight. If you can find a better way to deal with insomnia I'd love to hear it..
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