Hello, this is Raajan Vasudev Menon from Bangalore. I am a recovered alcohol addict who’s just out of a rehab centre. I like to share my story to all, especially parents on- how your alcohol practice may affect your children’s life.
There is no confusion from where to start with. For every annual leave, I usually visit my grandmother’s house. It was situated on the outskirts of Bangalore. It felt very repetitive after getting maturity.
The first sip
Forcibly without any choice, I was there. Grandmother told our help (Saroja) to call someone to take me on tour. Usually, aunt Saroja husband takes me everywhere. The next day morning there was a slight change in the plan, Ganesh (s/o Saroja) came to pick me up.
Though Ganesh was 4 years older to me, we had a great rapport. We had a great time at the Supa Dam. During the conversation, we noticed our thoughts were quite similar. At a point, he asked me “Do you drink?”. What can stop a teen who was feeling boredom at his grandma house? Immediately, I said, “I want to try once!”. And that was a milestone in my life – My first drink ever! And we enjoyed doing it every day. My grandmother had no idea of what was going on.
The desire to have after the vacation…
The urge to consume liquor didn’t take a step back even after the vacation. The craving made me steal a few millilitres of alcohol from my father’s stockings. My father is the one who influenced me by his actions and mannerism. Every time after his drink he was behaving like the dad I want. He was very humble, caring, talkative and most importantly he was very cheerful. All these things were promising that alcohol makes you a better person.
When my alcoholism crept heavily, I dropped out of school, lost the love & care from my parents and was isolated from the society. These diverging emotions didn’t cease my habit rather gave me a freedom to drink even more.
I made an effort to stop drinking. But faced adverse effects – my hands started to shake, I had shivering, vomiting sensations and body pain and headache. I couldn’t tolerate these, so I decided to jump out from the 4th floor.
It seemed the purpose isn’t over, I survived on hanging to the second-floor pipes and escaped with a few minor injuries. Later, my dad took me to a rehab centre where I got to see my best version.
Recovery is never too late!
Initially, everything was strange: Too much-talking staffs, always smiling counsellor and the wired happy looking residents inside a rehab campus. I kept my silence with others for three to four days. As the interactions begin with the fellow buddies at the group therapies. Everything out there was making sense to me.
I began to cooperate for the treatments and therapy. After 62 days, I observed a few positive changes through my self-journal. At that point, I was not sure if I was out of alcohol (wouldn’t want it again) but I was confident enough to handle the triggers. My parents understood my changes after taking part in family therapy. Now, I have successfully completed my ninety days of the de-addiction program. I will join the school again, make a safe set of friends and tell my father not to drink. I guess I know exactly how to lead my life in a better way.
A lesson to learn
Teenage is full of learning new things, they observe what they see the most. Whether it is good or bad, they do learn from parents. My father didn’t mean to influence me, unfortunately, that was the obvious reason. So don’t blindly blame on your child, be a buddy with good parenting skills. Think about your mistakes too. If your teen is into any addiction don’t hesitate to seek professional help.
If you are seeking help for yourself or for your adored one, call us at +91 96111 94949 for the appointment or visit our website www.cadabams.org