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addication, addiction, Alcoholic, anon alateen, Art therapy, awareness, Behaviour therapy, choices, Christina, close friends, coming of age, consequences, decisions, getting help, growing up, mental-health, personal story, Raising Teenagers, repercussions, Teenage Alcoholic, Teens, Testimony, understanding, where I Stand, young adult
Teenage Alcoholic; With Choice comes Responsibility.
Written By: Where I Stand Blogger Christina Mannanaro
When you are of age to make your own decisions, it is very simple to get mixed up in the wrong thing and make a bad choice… either for yourself or others. When I became a senior in high school, I felt in complete and utter control of my whole life. Good and bad decisions, I was making them on my own. I also felt that since I was of this age, there wasn’t a soul that could tell me what to do. The hardest part of all this was the disrespect I gave my mother because of her attempting to tell me what to do, in other words; be a mom. My mom is beyond words. So loving, caring, understanding, accepting… yet, I defied all her words of wisdom, and wishes for my safety and health.
I definitely got mixed up with the wrong crowd, people who I hardly knew their first name, and others less information than that. Following the drinking with this group began the drinking process with close friends. With drinking with close friends, there is a much more comfortable feel to becoming drunk. Allow me to put them in quotes, as they are not actually accurate statements.
“You’re around people you trust.”
“These close friends will not allow you to go over your limit.”
“Your friends are drinking too, so everything must be ok.”
“If they can handle it, you can.”
“They care highly about your life, so don’t sweat it.”
These statements are what went through my head each night I would drink. And each night I drank, I had a little bit more than the night before. I was making my own decisions, but with heavy influence of friends (or acquaintances), either directly or indirectly. Making decisions for yourself is a given with growing up, and it is certainly a luxury, but it comes with a price if you start making decisions that have severe consequences or repercussions.
I’m an alcoholic. And it all began with making a choice for myself. The wrong choice.
My name is Christina and This is Where I Stand.
Where I Stand 