TOW #19- Visual Text (Argument)

      It may be easy to see a family as picture perfect, enviable, unbroken; but all from an outside eye.  However, what very few are able to see are the flaws, the truths, and the broken that lie inside the walls of a family.  For families living with alcoholism, the inside is a very familiar place.  Alcohol addiction is commonly overlooked as an internal problem, only effecting the victim of the disease, however, it also has the power to destroy an entire family.
     An estimated 17.6 million people suffer from alcoholism, not even taking into account the family members of these people- the indirect sufferers.  It is important to make clear that alcohol dependency is not a choice that people make, but instead just an unfortunate cross between habit and heredity.  When someone is under the influence, their thinking is distorted, therefore making them  impossible to reason with.  What a loved one might see as a desperate need of help, an alcoholic would view as perfectly normal: with a distorted mind, it is hard to see the truth.  This disagreement in a family setting may start off small, but just like alcoholism, will end up spiraling out of control.  Such irrational disputes that may occur between a drunk person and a sober person can have serious longterm effects on the witnesses of them.  Not only can alcohol lead to divorce, but it can leave everlasting impressions on the children being raised in its negative environment.  Seeing an older family member struggle to receive the help they need can inflict an unusual stress on a child, even if they are too young to process what it means.  The weight sits on their shoulders too, and the imprint can stay there forever if placed at a critical period in their life.
     Just as an alcohol addict may be in denial to the problem they face, their family can also be in denial to the pain that they feel.  Over time, these feelings can be buried for the sake of a picture perfect image.  But time will tell that the damage done by alcohol never truly fades away.  Alcoholism is a dangerous disease that many have to experience every day, whether they are the consumer or the sponsor of sobriety.  For any outsider to the illness, it may be hard to see that alcohol not only effects the alcoholic but also the people surrounding them.  Like a tornado ripping through a town, alcoholism can rip through a family, leaving them in ruins. However, it is important to remember that not every disaster is left like that.  A lot of times, there is a clean up; a road to recovery.