Suncoast Rehabilitation Center Graduate No Longer Drowning In Beer:
A Story for Alcohol Awareness Month
By: Derek A. Queener
“I had developed such a high tolerance that I literally consumed more alcohol in a day than the average American does in a year.”
In the United States the average American consumes 3.04 gallons of alcohol annually; after decades of abuse, I was able to consume a staggering 3.50 gallons of Budweiser beer per day. Until entering and completing a treatment program at Suncoast Rehabilitation Center in Hernando County, my tolerance to alcohol was so high that several cases of beer were needed to give me the feeling I needed. With 6.1 billion gallons of beer produced in the U.S. each year, I suppose 3.50 gallons seems a drop in the bucket, so to speak. The truth is almost killed me several times.
The numbers that are even more shocking, 23 million addicted, and 44,000 killed in alcohol related accidents, one person every 50 minutes!
My personal statistics, 20 years of life wasted (literally and figuratively) due to my addiction, 4 D.U.I.’S and the next 50 to 60 years without a driver’s license.
Addiction is a fact of life and we all know someone who is fighting for their life right now! This is not a Hollywood story about Robert Downey Jr., Ben Affleck or Colin Farrell; it is about a son, daughter, mother or father that needs help with alcohol addiction.
Alcohol Awareness Month is one month every year dedicated to educating people on the devastating effects alcohol has on our society. My life prior to treatment was all of those devastations and my addiction had total control over every aspect of my life. As with many addicted to alcohol, nothing in life equals the importance of the next drink. All the statistics in the world were not going to keep me from doing what I thought for so long that I had to do. Drinking became my sole purpose, my reason for existing and the cause for every single negative occurrence in my life.
Before coming to Suncoast Rehabilitation Center I had nothing, no relationship with my family, no job and no home. I had an addiction to alcohol so unbelievably strong, that death seemed more appealing than life. Today that is no longer the case. The family I had destroyed due to my addiction is now proud; my mother has her son back and I am considered a brother again. I have a life that revolves around helping others overcome their addiction and I have a part in helping them take back what belongs to them, their lives.
I am very fortunate to have what I have now and I hope that everyone is able to get the help they need somewhere, somehow. The life of an addict is no life worth having, and this I know with everything that I am; you can have happiness in your life again. Please do not allow yourself or a loved one to drown in addiction, reach out for help or extend your hand.
“I want everyone to be aware of the effects of alcohol this month as I will be aware of them for the rest of my life, but alcohol no longer chooses what I can or cannot do, that choice belongs to me now. I am very grateful to S.R.C. for the life that I now have.”
