Note: Young adults are taught to be rational, ask questions, and educate themselves prior to using drugs. The reality is that peer pressure and an attitude such as, “I know what is best for me” or “that will never happen to me” cuts logic out of the picture. But this post is about how teaching or preaching the wrong information can hurt anyone at any age.

According to the science of addiction, the Cerebral Cortex, the rational part of the brain, is neutralized. As a result, the irrational part of the brain gains more control. Our ability to think rationally is greatly inhibited.

Rationalize: attempt to explain or justify (one’s own or another’s behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true or appropriate. Yahoo Definition.

An individual who has lost the ability to think rationally stops the questioning, which stops the education. SO, you are open to believing the WRONG information.

Please read the real facts of the blog and help me spread the website’s objectives. Please use social media and your network to reinforce the need to educate in the early years.

What I want you to understand:

• That an uneducated comment made by a person of leadership/responsibility/sponsorship will do harm to the addict. A comment about the “so-called facts of Wet Brain” almost led me down a hopeless path. The problem for me was that I believed that person and he was WRONG. See the Treatment for Wet Brain post for more information.
• Education was the key to survival.
• Reasoning changed my path back to a positive focus–enough to create this blog that will hopefully save a life. No matter how much education I had, I broke down. Young adults and their friends, armed with the three key concepts mentioned above, might resist the obvious because, “they know best,” peer pressure, and/or other mindsets. No matter what the age, the end result can be the same–you are dead!

Note: A friend of mine, someone I’ve known since Junior High School, ended his life in 2015. From what we could tell, it was depression. In Darrel Fox’s post, “Death-End of the Road,” there are stories of how young adults took their lives. See “Death-End of the Road” For Friends of a 27-Year-Old.

My position is, what if they had hope? What if they knew that there was light at end of the tunnel? I found that you can lose sight of hope or just waiting one more day. Again, this real life event and facial scar motivated me to follow through and create this website with my editor.

The Second Scar:

In May 2015, I was told that I would have no more hours at a popular retail supply store in Massachusetts; that “here we go again attitude” hit me hard. I had lost jobs in 2014 and 2015 selling diamond jewelry and men’s upscale suits because it became known that I slept in my car,  slept in a shelter, was homeless, or was too old. Now I also had a physical problem, my legs no longer would support me; pain was the word of the day.

As depression set in, my desire to feed my addiction set in. I went to meetings, recovery centers, and church just to be around people and others for guidance.

Lloyd Thomas worked at one of the center to help people get back on their feet. Lloyd is well liked by all, is clean for 2 decades, and has an great amount of face to face experience.

While speaking with Lloyd Thomas at a recovery center, he gave his assessment:

• Lloyd strongly felt that I had developed Wet Brain.
• He mentioned that Wet Brain is developed from long years of drinking–to the point the brain no longer allows the person to stop drinking and/or using.
• According to Lloyd, there is NO cure for Wet Brain, so there would be no cure for me.
• He said I would have one of three endings; JAIL, MENTAL HOSPITAL, OR DEATH.

Note: Wet Brain is the street name for Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. 

The impact on me was devastating. Depression and hopelessness set in like a bullet. I had memory flashes of past successes, smiles, laughs, being at my son’s sporting events and graduations, my son asking me for important advice, and my physical expertise in specific sports and martial arts. These thoughts were compounded by imaging my family, friends, nieces, nephews all being ashamed of me. See How the Author’s Path Started

My physical pain was joined by mental agony. I went to the store for alcohol to kill the physical and mental pain. I focused on deciding on a method that would be as painless as possible and would not leave a living shell to keep alive. It was time to walk the Green Mile back to the shit hole hotel.

A Change of Fate:

While walking back to my room, I could not get my legs to step over the curb. I slipped, fell, and smashed my forehead against the curb. After stealing my backpack and its contents (alcohol included), the members of the subculture standing nearby called 911.

My Education:

After being taken care of at the hospital,  I had a day to think and remember. While writing in my journal, I googled the definition of “wet brain” and Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. I also took the time to research the cause and treatment for Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. Lloyd Thomas had been wrong! One cause of the syndrome is the total deficiency of B1 in the brain. See There is Treatment for Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome; Wet Brain for more information. It also hit me that I had not been a heavy drinker for a long period of time.

Conclusion:

• This event reinforced my desire to write this blog, A Real American Dilemma.
• When feeling hopeless, always, wait one more day.
• My reasoning was intact. I was saved.
• The rest of 2015 and into 2016 I quizzed doctors, nurses, therapists, psychologists, sponsors, and others. To this day, the end result has been that most do not know the street term, Wet Brain; most, if not all, do not know the cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome or its treatment.

I also asked people about their general knowledge of Gabapentin for Treatment of Alcohol Dependence. The results were the same. Very few knew of this research.  The end result is that the professionals we trust the most can trigger terrible events if they are not educated correctly about addictions and treatments. See Hope: Gabapentin is a Treatment for Alcohol Dependence

We must Think Rationally, Ask Questions, and Educate ourselves. There is no excuse, especially if we use the technology of today.

SAVE A LIFE.