Brian Menish was a common high school student. He was one of the the many high school students who would go out and get drunk at parties. Brian is now 27 and says that drinking helped him get over his emotions when his parents got divorced. He is a recovering addict. He was drinking and doing drugs. His parents sent him away to a program. At this program he learned he had a talent for painting. He spent nine months in this program and the minute he got home he went back to his old habits.A year later he got on his motorcycle to get money. He got in an accident. His bike hit a guardrail, he then flew over. He hit a tree and split his skull. He was not expected to live. After many long and painful months of therapy he had learned to walk and talk again. One thing he still couldn't do was paint. This is when the depression kicked. He then started painting with his left hand with the help from his mom. It took him six months to learn how to do it. He got into art school. He went to Shepherd University in West Virginia.
Four years later he decided to put all his effort into painting. Now this month he is going to be three years sober. He goes to a community college. There he is in two honor societies. His next plan is to go to the fine arts program at Cal State Fullerton. He still cannot talk very well but he does his communicating through a canvas. He does have a noticeable limp when he walks but he has a bright smile. He completed a triathlon last month (December) which included swimming nine-tenths of a mile, biking 26 miles and running a 10k.
Questions:
1. If you were Brian how would you have dealt with your addiction?
2. Would you have learned to paint with your non-dominant hand or would you have gave up painting? Why?
Answers:
1. If I was in Brian's situation I would have tried to get help. I would have talked to my family to go to a program, which he did, but when I got back I would changed the people I hang out with. The people you are around have a large impact on how you act. I would stayed away from anything I knew would trigger the drinking or what ever the addiction was.
2. I would have learned to paint with my non-dominant hand because that would have been something that I knew would help keep me away from my addiction and keep me sane. If painting was a big thing in my life I would have done anything in my power to help me keep it in my life.
Replies
Super job!
I am glad that art is able to save someone and help someone who has to suffer from addiction through tough parts of their life. I would totally do anything to learn to paint with my non-dominant hand. Art is everything for me and I would not be able to live with the fact of having to give up on my biggest passion. I know it's hard but I would try to do everything to stay positive to receive my ability back through hard work.
I agree. Painting is a big thing for a lot of people so I think that anyone who has a passion needs to keep their passion. If you have something you love and you aren't able to do it anymore then work hard to achieve it.
This is a very scary situation. He could have died. Being addicted to drugs or alcohol is so terrible. If i was Brian I would want to talk to my mom or someone about my addiction so i could get it off my chest. If i got into an accident like that i would want to stay positive and work hard to get the ability to walk and talk back.
I agree it is a very situation. There was so many other things he could have done besides drinking and doing drugs. The best thing for him to do was stay positive and that is just what he did.
If I were in Brian's situation, I would've tried to talk to someone about my addiction. However, I know that would be a major decision on my part because it is often times hard for addicts to come to term with their addictions. I think that I would've learned to paint with my non-dominant hand, especially if painting was something that I loved doing. I'm very happy to hear that Brian received the help he needed!
I agree. I would have talked to my parents or someone I knew could help me. I also understand that admitting you have an addiction is hard for a lot of addicts. I was also happy to find out that he was doing well.
If I were Brian I would want to get help from my mom and dad. Hopefully I could get help at rehab before I get into the horrible situation of crashing into a tree and splitting my skull. I would also probably give up immediately because I'm a bad artist with my dominant hand.
I agree. I think that telling his parents was probably very had for him to do. I am also a bad artist my my dominant hand but if painting was something I really loved I would have tried.
id hopefully be able to get the help i would need and be wanting to get that help as it would be necessary. id rather spend my time trying re learn how to do the things i had a passion for because its better then the other alternative whether its drinking nor doing drugs.
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