As a young girl I wanted the same thing any young girl wanted, that was to be exactly like my dad. I wanted to eat like him, talk like him, even spit the way he did! From my early toddler years into my sixth grade year of school I thought my dad was the best thing I’ve ever known. Everything changed when I realized he drowned himself in alcohol. After this, he turned into my worst enemy. I never knew how many chance I would give him until I would give up on being his daughter. Alcohol can ruin many things physically in a human body; along with that comes the emotional damage it does to your mind as well. Don’t give up on and alcoholic, there are ways to help.

The physical abuse alcohol can do on a body is terrifying. According to epidemiologic research, cancer that is linked with alcohol, is found in the upper digestive tract. This includes: the esophagus, the mouth, the pharynx, and the larynx. The cancers that are well known to be caused by alcohol are: liver, breast, and colorectal cancers. www.alcoholism.about.com states that alcohol related cancers kill more than 125,000 people annually in the United States.

Not only does alcohol effect the inside of the body it also effects the appearance of alcoholics. Someone’s looks can be drastically ruined. Many people that have alcoholism will have a redder face. This is broken veins cause by to much alcohol consumption. When someone is an alcoholic they also seem to gain weight. Along with reddened faces and weight gain is bloodshot eyes. This is caused by broken veins also. Physical abuse alcohol does is very noticeable and clearly seen but the emotional effects are a whole different story.

The emotional effects an alcoholic goes through can be very tragic. An alcoholic can, a lot of the times, violate their values--they will do things they never would if sober. They regret a lot and are never completely happy with their negative decisions, says www.substanceabuse.lifetips.com. The drinkers’ family and friends will start thinking differently of them and soon fade away if they are not heavy drinkers. The jobs that an alcoholic once worked so hard at seemed to go down hill as soon as they get into the bottle. This then adds even more stress, triggering them to drink more and more. Also what triggers them to drink more is the fact of them losing their family and friends. They end up pushing them away. Knowing the physical and emotional effects of a person who has alcoholism is the first step to helping one.

To help someone who is an alcoholic is not the easiest task. The first main thing to do Is keep focus on what the situation truly is. If someone helping gets frustrated the goal at hand is already lost. To be a good helper it takes a non-judgmental person. Being judgmental is only going to make the alcoholic more angry, this triggering them to drink once again. Keeping a normal environment is also a very well needed tip at helping someone stop drinking. Changing everything in an alcoholics life is the last thing that needs to be accomplished. Also the activities of the alcoholic are things that can be changed. things like replacing drinking with playing a sport or going fishing, replacing friends that suffer from alcoholism is a positive more on a helpers part. There are endless ways to help someone suffering from this drinking disorder.

Alcoholism effects humans around the world daily. It effects them physically and emotionally. Helping an alcoholic is a struggling task but is all worth the while. Today, being in high school and having a non-alcoholic dad back feels amazing. I now have regained the feelings of wanting to be just like him back. Helping him stop made me realize also that it may take more then a second chance to get my dad back. But I realize even if it did take four years it was well worth all my time and effort.