Alcohol as Healthy, Abusive and Deadly

Isn’t drinking a little every day healthy?

Alcohol may have a few beneficial effects when taken in very small amounts. But, there are a lot of exceptions. From what I have read, the health benefits seem to only relate to a “healthy heart”. The negative list of problems from drinking is a lot longer.

The bottom line is that if you are drinking for health, than you should not feel the effects of alcohol. If you are “buzzed” don’t kid yourself, you are drinking for the effect

People getting this “buzz”

Laugh and talk loudly
Feel dizzy
Have blurry vision
Have trouble staying on their feet and sway when they walk
Slur words when they talk
Feel sleepy and relaxed
Pass out
Throw up
Fight and even get violent
Getting drunk can lead you to do or say things that you regret later on. It also makes you more likely to have an accident and get hurt.

Heavy drinking over the years can raise your risk for stroke (brain injury from a blood clot), cancer, liver disease, and other illnesses. People can forget to use condoms when they’re drunk, have unsafe sex, and get a disease. If a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, it can cause mental retardation and other health problems in the baby. Side note: I know a few people born with fetal alcohol syndrome and it is to pretty.

Being drunk makes you more likely to get hurt or killed. Alcohol is involved in:

60% of fatal burns, drownings, and murders
50% of severe injuries and sexual attacks
40% of fatal driving crashes, falls, and suicides

Long-term alcohol abuse can permanently hurt your brain cells. This can make it hard to walk, remember, or learn new things.

Addiction
You can get addicted to alcohol just like other drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments that can help someone recover from alcohol addiction.

Alcohol Dependence – Alcohol Abuse – Alcohol Problem

Problem Drinkers mentioned above can be summed up as – people with Alcohol Problems have a physical and or mental craving for alcohol. Non-problem drinkers don’t experience the same craving. The body chemistry of the Problem Drinker is different from the body chemistry of the non-problem drinker. For the Problem Drinker with each drink he or she takes the physical need for alcohol gets stronger. The Problem Drinker has no clue that this physical reaction is taking place.

The mental addiction to alcohol is the beginning of trouble. The body may not rely on the alcohol to function yet but there is an obsessive for it. The mind begins to create situation that involve drinking. This constant feeling leads to alcohol dependence. One drink turns into two and eventually bottles of alcohol are consumed every single day.

The signs and symptoms of having a mental addiction to alcohol are:

Trouble meeting deadlines
Loss of interest in daily life
Obsessive thoughts about alcohol
Problems at school or work
Relationship issues

The physical addiction starts when the alcoholic puts some booze into their system. This is why many problem drinkers go days and weeks without a drink and then “pow” they are drunk and on another run. This is the confusing part. After a period of non-drinking the alcoholic mind creates a mental obsession to have a drink. The feeling is so strong that no amount of will power can stop it. The alcoholic mind tells itself “This time it won’t happen to me, I just want to have a few drinks to celebrate a joyous occasion, I have it under control I haven’t had a drink in a week, I need to drink to stop feeling the pain of a recent or past dramatic event”. The list of reasons why an Alcoholic picks up the first drink goes on and on. This is why an Alcoholic is doomed without help.

Can’t I just stop drinking and be done with it?

Recovery from alcohol addiction means you have to stop drinking AND learn new ways of thinking, feeling, and dealing with problems.  When you take away the alcohol from the alcoholic, it makes it hard to function in daily life  At this point the liquor is not the problem, living life without numbing your feelings becomes the problem. It affects how you act with your family, at work, and in the community. It is hard to change so many things at once and not fall back into old habits.

Recovery from addiction is a lifelong effort. This can be very tricky, because after abstaining for a long period of time, your mind starts to forget what happened the last time you drank.  This is why dealing with an alcohol problem by yourself, is not likely to produce a long-term solution.