Has Your Pleasure Become A Pain To You Or Your Family?

alcohol pageAlcoholic drinks have been part and parcel of rituals, celebrations, and socializing for centuries. So have the devastating effects of their abuse. Alcohol abuse has been associated with physical and mental illnesses, and anti-social and criminal behavior. When the “pleasure” of drinking alcohol is starting to cause problems for you and your family, it is time to seek help to stop drinking.

For most adults, up to two (2) drinks a day for men and one (1) a day for women and the elderly causes few problems. (One alcoholic drink = one 12 ounce can of beer/malt liquor/wine cooler = one 5 ounce glass of wine = one 1.5 ounce (“shot”) straight liquor/mixed drink.)

The misuse of alcohol can lead to alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease presenting the following symptoms: craving; not able to stop drinking once started; physical withdrawal (nausea, sweating, shakiness, anxiety) upon stopping; the progressive need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get “high”. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious life problems.

Answering yes to any of the following means you might have an alcohol problem; you might want to get help if you or a loved one:

 

  1. Drink to calm nerves, forget worries, reduce depression;
  2. Gulp down drinks;
  3. Frequently have more than one drink a day;
  4. Lie about/try to hide drinking habits;
  5. Hurt anyone while drinking;
  6. Need more alcohol to get high;
  7. Feel irritable, resentful, unreasonable when not drinking;
  8. Have problems directly caused by drinking;
  9. Have ever felt you should cut back your drinking;
  10. Have become annoyed at people commenting on your drinking;
  11. Have ever felt guilty about drinking;
  12. Have ever had a drink first thing in the morning.

Those individuals who should not drink alcoholic beverages are:

  1. women who are pregnant, or trying to conceive;
  2. anyone planning to operate complex machinery;
  3. people taking prescription or over the counter medications;
  4. people with medical conditions caused/made worse by alcohol (high blood pressure, ulcers, diabetes, bleeding strokes, breast cancer, alcohol dulls heart attack warning pain);
  5. recovering alcoholics;
  6. children younger than the age of 21.

Small changes can make a big difference in reducing your chances of having alcohol related problems:

  1. keep track of how much you drink;
  2. decide how many drinks a day you want to drink;
  3. count your drinks accurately;
  4. pace yourself;
  5. don’t drink on an empty stomach;
  6. avoid people, places, activities that make you want to drink;
  7. when you get the urge to drink, remind yourself of your reasons for stopping, talk it through with someone you trust, or get involved with a healthy, distracting activity;
  8. when offered drinks, politely, but firmly, decline without waiver.

For more information regarding alcohol use/abuse, alcoholism, treatment options, and links to care providers please use the following links: