AHS Views

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.

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!

There are lots of things you can do to help you quit drinking – or, at least, cut down. Some experts suggest that you change your habits. For example, if you hang out with people who drink whenever you see them, spend less time with them. Get to know people who don’t drink. Or, if you habitually stop into the pub on the way home from work, try taking a different route. Or you can decide to only drink on weekends. For other suggestions, check out Do I Drink Too Much Alcohol?

But if these things aren’t working, chances are you’re past the point of being able to handle the problem by yourself and could use some addiction help. And chances are you’d be best off in a residential treatment facility where they can get down to the bottom of why you can’t stop drinking.

New Year’s is coming. Time for resolutions. Quitting or cutting down on drinking is probably close to the top of the list for many people. But just like people who resolve to stop eating sugar or junk, get to the gym everyday, lose weight, etc., the vast majority of those resolutions will be in the toilet within a week or two of the new year.

But the consequences of drinking are usually far worse than being a little overweight, so you have to take it seriously. With addiction help services, you’ll get the help you need to do that. 

Tonight I attended my second early Christmas gathering – lots of beer, wine, and I don’t know what else. I’m not much of a drinker, an entire year or two can go by easily without any alcohol whatsoever. Occasionally I like a little sip of something that tastes delicious – but it would be just as good without alcohol. Last night I had nothing, and had also designated myself as a driver. So, no alcohol for sure. I think there was also some ginger ale there, but I’m not much of a soda fan either.

Although the dinner was one of the most delicious I’ve ever had, there was virtually nothing for me to drink. I had a bottle or two of water.

But there are lots of delicious, non-alcoholic drinks you can prepare for those who prefer it - and it feels good to know your family and friends aren’t heading out into the winter night under the influence, like so many of the other drivers on the road that should probably be in detox or getting some other form of addiction help instead of endangering the lives of everyone around them.

Check out snazzy holiday drinks – alcohol free for some delicious alternatives. They’re so good, your guests probably won’t even notice they’re not ‘drinking.’

A new study shows that alcohol shrinks the brain. Millions of people need drug and alcohol addiction help, and we’re spending millions finding out this useless information.

Why do we need it? We already know that just one drink can impair abstract thinking for a month, we already know it causes a gradual deterioration of the body and people die before their time, we already know it’s involved in most domestic violence incidents, we already know it’s ruins families, lives, careers. Shouldn’t we be spending our money making sure people get the addiction help services they need?

Williams Lake, a city in British Columbia, Canada, is taking some unusual steps to help handle alcohol addiction and abuse problems. The city council has been asking Interior Health, the government department responsible for the health of the entire province, for addiction help and not getting it. Last year there were over 1200 reported cases of public intoxication and 800 arrests. The population is only 12,000 – so that’s  a lot of arrests.

The police, specifically the RCMP, have decided to bill Interior Health for every related expense until Interior Health coughs up some help in one form or another. Williams Lake would like a detox center but, since they’ve made it clear they want effective addiction help, they should really get a full blown drug rehab center, not just drug detox.

The local mayor says these incidents of alcohol addiction and abuse are costing the city $150,000/year. I think he may have left a few expenses out. That’s only $125 per person found intoxicated. And with 800 arrests, you can be sure it’s costing more than $125. 

In any case, Williams Lake is a small (but extremely beautiful) town and $150,000 could be put to better use.

I don’t know if Interior Health will pay those bills, but this should certainly call attention to the fact that the city needs help and put a little pressure on the powers that be. In the meantime, someone needing addiction help should contact Addiction Help Services to help them find a facility that’s right for their situation.

“The definition of alcohol abuse is when the use of alcohol is interfering in a persons life, the definition of alcohol dependency is a more severe form of the problem, with the consumption of alcohol a central preoccupation in the afflicted person’s life’, says Dr. Michael Levy, a columnist in The Eagle-Tribune. There are 24 million people in the U.S. who may fall in one of these two categories and who will need some form of addiction help.

Drug rehab is more successful when other drugs aren’t substituted

I was recently doing research on alcohol abuse and came across some startling information – the current trend in alcohol and drug rehab programs is to get the person off drugs or alcohol by putting them on another drug. In other words, they simply substitute one drug for another and send the ‘former’ alcoholic or addict on their way – allegedly cured. This is called ‘medication therapy’ and, believe it or not, is actually considered valid ‘treatment’. However, successful drug rehab programs offer a drug-free approach.

Let me clarify the role of drugs in stopping addiction: When an alcoholic or drug addict wants to quit the habit, they first have to go through withdrawal. How painful an experience that will be depends on how much they’ve been drinking for how long, or what drugs they’ve been taking, and how much, for how long. Withdrawal can be severely painful and sometimes dangerous, even life-threatening. In fact, fear of withdrawal symptoms is often enough to deter any efforts to get clean.

To get through withdrawal safely and relatively comfortably, many people choose to do a medically-supervised drug or alcohol detox. This process often involves the use of drugs to lessen the withdrawal symptoms. However, the drugs are given for a very short time – sometimes just a few days – not enough to cause addiction. By the time the person has completed the detox and goes back out into the world, they are no longer taking drugs – not the drug they walked in on, and not the drug that helped them through withdrawal. Having come through withdrawal safely and relatively comfortably, the person can now get into full drug rehab, as needed, to address the reasons they turned to drugs or alcohol in the first place so they can fully handle their addiction. This bears no resemblance to ‘medication therapy’, and you should not confuse the two.

I’ve worked with many families and friends of addicts over the years and most are looking for programs that don’t require a person to be drugged up on pharmaceuticals when they leave treatment. The fact that so many places are now promoting the use of these substitutes for any type of addiction was shocking to me, especially in light of the fact that none of the drug rehabs using this type of treatment have a decent success rate. How could they? They’re not addressing the problem in any way, shape or form.

To the average person looking for help this may seem like the way to go. Personally, I would much rather not have to wake up every morning and take a pill just to get through the day. There are plenty of successful drug rehabs out there that don’t use ‘medication therapy, it’s just a matter of finding one that is the right fit for the user. If you’re looking for help for yourself or someone you love, my advice would be to ask for a drug-free drug rehab program.