AHS Views

Many parents face the dilemma of trying to bring up their kids so they don’t drink alcohol. Or, at least, don’t abuse it. If someone does have an alcohol problem, they can get alcohol addiction help through an alcohol rehab program. But prevention is far easier than the cure: Once a person gets to the point of getting treatment, they have often done a lot of damage to their body, their family, and themselves. And sometimes it’s irreversible.

Educating kids on the dangers of alcohol is a common prevention method, but here are a few relatively new statistics that could be pretty convincing.

• One out of every five alcoholics who attempt to stop drinking without medical intervention end up dying as a result of alcohol withdrawal delirium. So, in fact, it’s not just will power or the mental and emotional dependence on alcohol that keeps people from quitting. The symptoms they experience are so severe they feel they just have to have another drink or they’re going to die. And, in one out of every five cases, they’re right. That really gives you a clue as to how bad drinking can be.
• 68% of people who go to hospital emergency rooms have an alcohol or drug problem. Just to give you more of an idea of how many people that represents – there are nearly 124 million ER visits every year, so that means over 84 million people with drug or alcohol problems are in ERs. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about not wanting to go to a hospital emergency room because they don’t want to wait for hours in a room with a bunch of ‘drunks’ or ‘druggies.’ Does your son or daughter want to be one of them?
• They should also know that most of these people in ERs aren’t hardcore, long-term alcoholics. The millions of accidents and injuries that occur while drinking often happen to people who are not really alcoholics at all.
• 20% of suicide victims in the US are alcoholics. You might be tempted to say that’s logical because if they weren’t really depressed or otherwise kind of messed up, they wouldn’t be alcoholics in the first place. Well, to a degree, that’s true. But people often start drinking for much more mundane reasons than wanting to kill themselves. They start because their friends think it’s cool, or because everyone around them drinks and they want to feel like they’re part of the crowd. And, by the way, this isn’t always because of ‘peer pressure’ – sometimes it’s just a matter of having people to talk to and hang out with. If all the people around you who you might want to hang out with are drinkers, it’s hard to talk to them unless you’re drinking too. Even just being a ‘little high’, not drunk, can be a vastly different world than being ‘sober.’
• Whatever the reason the person started drinking, alcohol can make you depressed – the longer you drink, the worse it gets. Also, the chances of alcohol causing problems in your life are very high – someone’s orderly life can turn into a mess once they start drinking. They lose family, jobs, friends, money, relationships, etc.
• At this point, you can be sure that they have wanted to quit for along time – they’ve seen the slide in their life. But, because alcohol is so addictive both mentally and physically, they have not been able to quit. So they slide down even further – their self-esteem is destroyed as they see their lives go down the drain and can’t do anything about it. Is it really surprising that under those circumstances someone would kill themselves?

Let your kids know about these things. Get them to really look at how bad it can get. That should help them realize that drinking has consequences that they really don’t want.

And in case they think they’re immune to all that, point out to them that there’s not much chance that anyone thought they’d become one of those statistics when they started drinking. No matter how they feel now, or who they think they are and  how they would react or respond to things, alcohol will change them.

If you’re worried about making sure your kids don’t turn into alcoholics, the best thing to do is start taking precautions against that when they’re very young. If you don’t do that, they could wind up in need of addiction help quite soon, and if they don’t get it, they could be fighting alcoholism all their lives. So, what do you do when you’re starting early?

First, educate them. Not lecture, just kindly give them the information they need. This means you’re going to have to get educated yourself. What is alcohol? How is it made? What is the real effect it creates on the body? Why it is poisonous? Show them drunk driving and domestic violence statistics. Binge drinking. And so on. They need to know what it is, what is does.

Second, set a good example. Don’t drink yourself or limit your drinking to once a week or so and then only have a small glass of wine or something like that. But, truthfully, even drinking in moderation sends the wrong message. The message is that no one needs alcohol. Period.

Third, keep them busy with activity that will give them a sense of purpose, accomplishment and satisfaction. The activity(ies) should be chosen by them, something they’re interested in, not something you’re interested in. It doesn’t matter if it’s track and field, ballet, making jewelry or astronomy. Encourage their personal interests and help them learn about them.

There are no guarantees, but if you want your kids to have the best chance of staying drug and alcohol free and avoiding drug or alcohol rehab in the future, this will give you a good start.

It’s hard for someone who doesn’t have an alcohol problem to figure out why some who obviously does have a problem won’t even admit they need addiction help – let alone actually get it.

But surprisingly enough, that is very, very common. In fact, statistics show that less that 8% of alcoholics actually believe they need help. And even fewer – 1.2% – believe they would get anything out of it.

What I have observed with alcoholics is a sense of hopelessness. And I think that sense of hopelessness carries through to their viewpoint about treatment.

Those same statistics, by the way, say there are nearly 7.4 million people in America who are abusing alcohol and need help.

The director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (SAMHSA), which put together these statistics, “Individuals, friends, and family members clearly need help and support in confronting and doing something about the problem. Without help, alcoholism can be fatal.”

Well, I’d say that’s definitely the case. Often it takes an intervention to get someone who’s taking drugs or alcohol to admit they need help and agree to get it. And you often need to tell the person that if they don’t get help, you will leave them or stop supporting them in some way. They have to have something to lose.

And, yes, that can be very difficult to say to your husband or wife, or child. And even harder to actually do.

She also said the nation needs to ask “why we stand by and allow so many people to self-destruct before intervening.

That tells me she’s not really in touch with what’s going on out in the world beyond her statistics – you could probably count on one hand the number of people who DON’T try to get their loved ones to get help. Or to help themselves. It isn’t that people allow others to self-destruct – they often try over and over again. They just don’t really know what else to do.

One possibility is to contact a good drug and alcohol rehab facility. They can generally help you organize an intervention or step in and personally convince the alcoholic to get help. Alcohol and drug rehab counselors have dealt with the situation over and over again. And they don’t have the problem of the other baggage of a personal relationship. Call Addiction Help Services, 877-554-7308, if you need to find out what to do.

A new study found that just one drink a day, of any kind of alcohol, can increase a woman’s risk of pancreatic cancer by 13%. Imagine what drinking more than that could do. Pancreatic cancer, by the way, is one of the worst. By the time someone goes to the doctor with symptoms it’s usually very advanced. Only one in five or six cases is operable. So the prognosis is not good.

The study also says it’s harder for women to quit drinking than men. I don’t know why that is, but they can get help through alcohol rehab – and may well need it even if the amount they drink is considered just ‘social’.  The criteria is not how much they drink, but whether or not they can stop.

Alcohol rehab addresses all the issues behind not being able to quit. Physically, quitting drinking probably wouldn’t be much of a problem if you’re only drinking one drink a day. But emotional dependence on that one drink is another story.

A good alcohol rehab program would get down to the bottom of that dependence.

You might know someone in this position. If so, you can find out more about it and get recommendations from a professional through us – Drug Rehab Referral. And make sure the women in your life know about this.

I came across a headline today that I thought must have been a joke. When I read further into the article, I realized that it’s not, and am absolutely shocked! Russia is experiencing a heatwave and vodka-swigging, drunken people are trying to swim to cool off, and drowning.

I actually was in such disbelief that I Googled the story to find out if anyone else had written about the terrible events that have taken place. Sure enough, there were several other articles written, that I was able to easily find online. The death toll so far has surpassed 1200 people since June. And, in one day, there were 49 drowning deaths in Russia from drunken swimming.

The most heartbreaking part of this news story was to find out that children are also drowning because their parents are too drunk to notice them. If you can believe this, last week there were five children who drowned at camp because their counselors were too drunk to pay attention!

A lot of people like to take some drinks with them to the beach. It’s certainly quite common in many parts of the world. But this has proven that it can be quite dangerous, if people are being reckless and irresponsible with the amounts that they’re consuming. This would fall into the category of binge drinking, basically drinking large amounts of alcohol quickly to get drunk. Swigging massive quantities of vodka before taking a swim is not the best idea and you’d think that people would have caught onto this by now!

A state of emergency has been declared in Russia because of the death toll. Unfortunately, this is a long standing issue there, alcohol abuse needs addiction treatment. It’s time to really take a look at this crisis and help Russians with their blatantly obvious problems with alcohol addiction. Alcohol rehab programs are desperately needed and fast! It may be a good idea to restrict alcohol from the public beaches too. I’m sure it would help save many lives.

Now that the summer is upon us, it’s time for parties and vacations. Often times, at the bbq or family reunion, there will be alcoholic beverages present. And frequently there will be that family member who drinks a few too many of those beverages. Or, perhaps you are the one who’s tipping the bottle a bit too much and maybe your kids are around, hearing you slur your words and get pretty silly.

When it comes to alcohol, and drugs for that matter, children are experimenting with these substances at alarmingly young ages. In a recent study that looked at adolescent drug and alcohol use, there were some interesting correlations between substance abuse and family upbringing.

The study showed that kids who have ‘indulgent’ parents were much more likely to drink heavily. Not shocking… But, what was interesting was that parents who aren’t openly heavy drinkers, but aren’t warm and involved in their kids’ lives, or are strict and a bit cold, also still had higher chances of getting involved in the drinking scene.

The best scenario in a family unit, are parents who are warm, involved in their children’s lives and openly communicative as well as not being big on drinking.

So, as the summer progresses, and the plans for partying with the family are made, let’s all keep this in mind. Let’s lead by example and be warm and loving parents to our kids. It will make a big difference in the long run for the health and well being of our children. And, perhaps help to avoid alcohol addiction treatment in their futures!

So the latest news in the drug and alcohol addiction world, that caught my eye, was about a female middle school teacher in Southern California who was arrested for “drunk teaching”. This woman was actually attempting to teach a classroom full of 7th grade students while she was intoxicated.

This story hit close to home for me because I’m the mother of a 7th grade student and can’t imagine what I’d do if I found out that one of her teachers was drunk while teaching her. What a horrible example to those children that was!

I would venture to guess that this teacher has got some major issues with alcoholism. Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t show up to their job drunk, but much less, to a classroom full of impressionable young students. I can’t imagine that she’d choose to go to her job drunk which leads me to believe that she’s dependent and addicted.

Alcoholism is a very unfortunate problem that far too many people are familiar with. It has crept up on people of all ages and walks of life. And, anyone you talk with will most likely know someone who is an alcoholic. Just ask…

The good thing is that there are options to help people get past their alcohol addiction and dependence. There are alcohol treatment programs all over to help people regain their lives. Alcoholism is not a burden that someone has to live with forever.

It’s my hope that the Southern California teacher wakes up and smells the coffee. It’s time that she attend a good alcohol rehab program, because as far as most people would be concerned, she’s hit rock bottom, and it’s time to fix her life. It would be great if the judge that sentences her for her crime sees this undeniable, underlying problem as well.

Have you ever thought about whether you could be an “alcoholic”? Like when you hear about people who drive drunk or the neighbor down the street who had a few too many at the BBQ last weekend… Has it ever made you question your own habits with regard to alcohol consumption?

There are a several problems that can come from the consumption of alcohol. Take Binge Drinking, for example. People who binge drink have a purpose. They intend to get intoxicated and drink several drinks in a short period of time in order to get drunk. This is practiced by many, many people ranging from younger kids to older adults. In can be done once a week or once a month but is still a drinking problem.

Then, there is alcohol abuse. This can basically be defined as the use of alcohol interfering with a person’s life. Perhaps a mother is waking up in the morning and immediately getting intoxicated before she even gets her children out to the school bus. This would “interfere” with her life. This would also create problems, most likely, for the lives of her family members.

Alcohol abuse can lead to dependency. Alcohol dependency is not only a mental need to drink, but actually a physical one as well. An individual who is dependent on alcohol will actually experience physical withdrawal symptoms like feeling shaky, jumpy or nervous, depression, fatigue and irritability if they don’t drink. An alcohol detox program will most likely be needed to help a person through the withdrawal process.

Alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems that someone might encounter, as well as negative social consequences.
If you, a friend or a family member fit into any of these scenarios, there may be a need for addiction help through alcohol detox and a good alcohol rehab program. It could save a life!

Without going into a lot of details, the short answer is probably no, and unfortunately the line between the two is pretty grey, but there is a definitely more to it…

A drug “addiction” is generally defined as compulsive, drug-seeking behavior which is due to physical and/or mental dependency on a drug, despite knowingly causing damage to oneself and others regardless of consequence. Most people associate drug addiction with illegal drugs like cocaine, meth or heroin, but the truth is that people can easily become addicted to prescription drugs that were originally prescribed by their doctor.

An individual with a drug “dependence” may not exhibit the compulsive drug-seeking behavior and may have a more normal and collected appearance in life. This doesn’t only include drugs, but can also include the moderate-to-heavy social drinker who has three alcoholic drinks several nights per week or more. You may as well additionally include the millions of people who take prescribed drugs on a daily basis.

As I mentioned before, there is a fine line between dependency and addiction, and a person who is dependent can very easily become addicted. What happens if a drinker gets cut off at the bar? A lot of times, they become belligerent and will go to another bar or store to buy more alcohol, which would be an all too common example of compulsive drug (or alcohol) seeking. They may not even know they are an alcoholic yet but these are the first signs not to ignore.

Another factor, which most people are unaware of, is tolerance. This can absolutely play a role in dependence turning into addiction. An example of this might be someone being prescribed a narcotic painkiller after an injury or surgery. They takes it as prescribed for the recommended time period, but when the medication use stops, the user goes into withdrawals because their body became dependent on it. The next reaction, in a lot of scenarios, would be that they have to get more of the drug to not feel those withdrawal symptoms anymore. They’re basically trapped into use – which leads to addiction.

Learning disability labeled teenagers being put on amphetamines (stimulants) is another common example. These are legally prescribed drugs, by doctors and/or psychiatrists. The children can naturally develop a tolerance to these drugs and then need more, something stronger. In many cases of illegal drug use by teens, it comes on the heels of a long history of Ritalin, Prozac, etc.

So, the one thing we do know is, despite different characteristics and definitions, one does have to be drug dependent to be an addict, but the line  certainly isn’t definite when it is crossed. And, knowing how easily this can happen, it’s extremely important to pay attention. Pay attention to yourself, if you find that you need to take a prescription painkiller. Pay attention to your kids. And, if you find yourself knowing of or learning about someone with a dependence, help them get into a good detox program before it leads to addiction.

I read an interesting interview with William C. Moyers, son of TV (and other venues) journalist Bill Moyers). William, who has long since recovered thanks to a lot of addiction help, had a serious problem with cocaine in the past.

His interviewer asked the question “If you think you might be drinking too much, does that mean you’re an alcoholic?” Moyers came up with one of the most interesting answers I’ve heard: “It doesn’t mean you’re an alcoholic, but it means you are pondering issues that most people don’t ponder.”

I’m not sure I agree with him 100%. Lots of people ponder those same issues – but they have chosen, for one reason or another, to not use alcohol (or drugs) as a solution to those issues. They’ve also chosen to continue to ponder them, rather than try to escape from them.

But, unfortunately, it’s not that cut and dried. There aren’t too many people out there that are self-aware. They don’t realize they have ‘issues’ and they might not be ‘pondering’ anything.

A friend of my son’s is a good example. He’s not a stupid guy by any stretch of the imagination but I certainly would not describe him as self-aware. He was staying with us for a while – he’s in his early twenties – and drank like a fish. Although he admitted it wasn’t good for him and he probably should be doing it.

But when I asked him what was going on, what was he thinking about, he had nothing to say other than “I just like to have a few beers when I get home from a day at work.” That was it. No amount of prodding could get him to look at what’s going on in his head.

There has to be something not optimum going on in someone’s head to want to be blotto half the time. There are a lot of good things about life. Why would someone choose to be oblivious to those things by being semi-conscious?

In truth, whether they know it or not, they’ve got a problem. Not a drinking problem (although they now have that, too), a problem that makes them want to be semi-conscious and not perceive themselves or what’s around them.

Addiction help services can help them get to the bottom of it. Even if someone says “I just like to have a few beers ….”