Alcoholism

Reading The Absolute True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian really opened my eyes to the problems alcohol can create in a community. Junior's struggles, as well as his whole community, are problems that are prevelent today in the indian community. Alcohol seems to be a bigger problem in the indian community because of how apart they still are from other races today. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/first-alcoholic-drink-at-age-5-reservation-counselor-says-its-happening/ This is just a short article I found online that's really an eye-opener to me. It says that many of the kids have their first drinks around the ages of five to six! The article is about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where officials say that eighty to ninety percent of adults are addicted to alcohol. Reflecting back on Junior's problems, you can still see that alcoholism in the indian community is spiraling out of control. The Absolute True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian fits very well into the stories we read. I think that alcoholism is as much of a mental illness as schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Recently a family member of mine got into drinking heavily again and we had to step in to get him help. I feel like in Junior's case and many other people on reservations don't get help because there's no one to give them the help. My family and I supported our fellow family member and got him the help he needed to battle alcoholism. Reading The Absolute Diary Of A Part-Time Indian really struck home with me.