Help for alcohol abuse

The riots on Kirkwood Avenue, the stealing of the fish in Showalter Fountain and Little 500 weekend all came and went. So did the celebration of the beginning of summer.\nIt's no wonder IU was proclaimed "No. 1 Party School" by the Princeton Review. \nWhen the polls came around to decide who had the biggest parties, weekend after weekend, the students at IU were celebrating. \nAt the same time local alcohol treatment centers were filling up rapidly as well.\nMichael Lindstrom, a graduate from IU and now a clinical worker at the Bloomington Hospital, said that the program offered for the people of Bloomington is a short-term treatment facility that helps addicts get past their addiction.\n"It is not a long term facility, but just enough for those who know that there is a problem with alcohol, and the center gets them started on information with addiction and abuse," Lindstrom said.\nThe difference between an addict and an abuser is simple to differentiate. Addicts feel they mentally and physically need alcohol or another substance to function. Abusers drink at parties and keep drinking until they fall down, pass out or throw up. \n"When habitually this is done weekend after weekend is when they might start filing in to the clinics. It can just take one party to be checked in. All patients are not necessarily addicts," Lindstrom said. \nSymptoms of an abuser would be one who goes out every weekend looking for a party and drinking until they pass out or vomit constantly. \n"Since IU is a dry campus, students look for places to drink and feel that they are starved for alcohol," Lindstrom said. "The bars are flooded every weekend since we are told constantly not to drink."\nSophomore Ben Klopfer disagrees with IU's stereotype.\n"I don't think that the Bloomington community has a problem with alcohol," he said. "I think alcoholism is a problem when people have a dependency on alcohol, and I think the programs are good to have for alcoholics who wish to get over their alcoholism."\nAlthough the center is prepared when they know it is going to be a big weekend for partying, such as Little 500 weekend, junior Yuval Sharon said he doesn't think alcoholism is a big problem on campus.\n"I haven't run into many people who I think are addicted to alcohol," Sharon said. "I know a lot of people who abuse it, but not to an extreme."\nBoth Sharon and Klopfer said they feel the difference between addicts and abusers are those who drink alone, those who drink every night and those who drink to fix problems. \nAlcoholism is a serious issue, and there are places in the community that are there to help. \nTo get in touch with someone who can help, call Bloomington Hospital at 353-9411.