Posts Tagged ‘alcoholism’
When Abusive And Irresponsible Drinking Results In Serious Health Problems And Sexuality Problems, Marital Problems, Divorce, And Affairs
For more than a few years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong linkage between alcohol addiction and serious health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
As an illustration, in 2005, scientific research and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It may be noted that this immense alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is important to accentuate these facts, it is also important to point out that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
To be more precise, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Definitely, substance abuse research has revealed that alcohol addiction can increase the risk for different kinds of cancer, particularly cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Heavy and recurring drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and abnormality to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Hazardous Drinking Breaks Down the Problem Drinker’s Organs and Systems
What is more, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. As an illustration, chronic, excessive drinking is particularly harmful to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This condition results in a progressive inflammatory injury to the liver that can in the long run lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially deadly medical problem. Abusive, long-term drinking not only can result in critical liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this dangerous may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in severe disease or an untimely death.
The Significance of Alcohol Counseling
It is vital, consequently, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol counseling he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortunately, scientific exploration is continuously unearthing novel and significant information. Recent alcoholism research offers an excellent illustration. Stated differently, for approximately the past ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and long-term irresponsible drinking alters the configuration of the brain to a significant extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the individual lives.
More precisely, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and substantial transformations in the brain.
This type of damage may be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health or directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain or to severe liver disease.
Malnutrition, Abusive Drinking, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of various medical conditions that are substantially associated with alcohol addiction, consider that in accordance with scientific exploration, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a health problem that reduces the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This form of organ failure is related to malnutrition and to an assortment of serious neurological and mental maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is an enduring incapacitating medical condition that is typified by recurring memory and learning complications.
Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Also Leads to in Relationship and Friendship Difficulties
In addition to serious health issues, hazardous drinking also leads to friendship and relationship problems. As an illustration, people who involve themselves in hazardous drinking typically experience divorce, marital difficulties, sexuality problems, and affairs.
Conclusion: The Importance of Education
It is apparent that repetitive, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly associated with numerous dangerous medical problems that can and do lead to dangerous illness and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a large number of individuals will be able to abstain from abusive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the quality treatment they need.
Let us look at this rationally. Yes, alcohol counseling is important, but alcohol therapy is something that is typically done AFTER the fact. Education, to the contrary, is something that is done BEFORE the problem arises. Stated another way, whereas alcohol counseling is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is asserted that both approaches are needed when discussing alcohol problems.
When Drinking Becomes A Problem That Needs Attention And Can Cause Dating And Marital Issues
How do you recognize that you have a problem with your drinking? When is it clear that you are engaging in abusive drinking?
If you have ineffectively struggled to stop drinking or if you sworn to yourself that your drinking days are terminated and then you were made aware that you were drinking in an abusive way just a few days later, the odds are quite good that you have drinking problems. The point of emphasis is that if you have made an effort to stop drinking and cannot bring this about, then your drinking is controlling you, rather than the other way around.
In a similar manner, if it takes larger amounts of alcohol to get the same “high,” you probably need to become aware that you have a drinking problem.
You may be telling yourself that the reason for your drinking is so that you can decrease your tension or get rid of the pain or depression that you feel. In a similar manner, you may be trying to steer clear of a negative situation and may be looking for something more useful, more positive, or less sorrowful.
As you continue to drink, however, you will become aware that drinking does not bring forth the same high and you will also comprehend that drinking doesn’t help eradicate whatever elicited your discomfort in the first place. You may also become aware that the more abusively you drink, the more depressed you feel.
As you continue to drink, sadly, you may become alcohol dependent and, as a result, you may add another fundamental problem to manage rather than becoming aware of more productive and wholesome ways of dealing with your alcohol-related difficulties.
The Requirement for an Alcohol Evaluation
If you have concluded that you have a drinking problem, conceivably the most beneficial thing you can do for yourself is to call your medical doctor or healthcare professional and schedule an appointment for a complete physical and for an appraisal of your drinking behavior.
If you honestly believe that you have a crucial problem with your drinking, it might be a good idea to get prepared to find out that you need to get alcohol counseling.
At this point in your life, what are your choices? You can definitely decide against seeing your health care practitioner and continue your pattern of excessive drinking.
It certainly doesn’t take a rocket scientist, however, to comprehend that continuous, heavy drinking, if left untreated, will go downhill over time and doubtless bring about an early death. Accordingly, your most practical choice is to confront your drinking circumstance and get the alcohol therapy you require.
The Pretense of the Functioning Alcohol Addicted Individual
It is somewhat odd to note the fact that numerous alcohol dependent individuals lead busy and active lives and have houses, pets, families, vehicles, jobs, and any number of material possessions just like people who are not addicted to alcohol.
Many of these “functional” alcohol addicted people may have never been apprehended for drunk driving and may have been lucky enough to avoid all alcohol-related legal issues. In spite of this fortunate situation, then again, these alcohol dependent people need to drink in order to operate on a day to day basis while keeping up their facade as they interact with people outside their family.
Ask anyone who has seen them when they are out on a drunken binge or in a drunken stupor or ask a family member about the problem drinker’s alcohol addiction, to the contrary, and they will be quick to affirm the authenticity of the drinker’s situation and the whole story about the alcohol addicted person’s drinking condition and about his or her alcohol produced difficulties.
Why Do People Addicted to Alcohol Fail to Address Their Drinking Difficulties?
As alcohol dependency research and statistics on alcohol abuse have highlighted, no matter how observable the alcohol generated predicaments seem to those who interact with the alcoholic, alcohol dependent individuals typically deny that drinking is the source of their alcohol produced difficulties. Not only this, but alcohol addicted people frequently blame their alcohol-related difficulties on other individuals or upon other circumstances that surround them instead of seeing their part in the issue. Similarly, alcohol dependent people often exhibit dating and marital problems.
The root of the issue is that alcohol addiction is a disease of the brain. Once the person has become addicted to alcohol, he or she regularly resorts to denial, manipulation, and dishonesty as a way of dealing with the fact that his or her drinking is out of control. And to make things more problematic, the experience of alcohol withdrawal symptoms often thwarts the alcohol addicted individual’s rare attempts to suddenly refrain from drinking. As bleak as the alcohol addicted person’s existence is, to the contrary, the encouraging news is that quality help is generally available – if the alcohol dependent person reaches out and seeks alcoholism treatment.
Summary
Admitting the fact that drinking is triggering problems in your day by day functioning is probably the most straightforward way to find out if you have a problem with your drinking. Stated differently, if your drinking is eliciting difficulties with your health, at work, in your relationships, with your finances, at school, or with the legal system, then you have a drinking problem that needs to be tackled.
If you have a drinking problem, what is more, this means that you are getting involved with alcohol abuse.
While some people may be able to detect their “alcohol signs,” pinpoint their difficulties, and significantly reduce the quantity and frequency of their drinking, other drinkers, nonetheless, need to tackle their drinking difficulties by getting quality alcoholism therapy. Furthermore, due to their penchant to deny the facts and distort the truth, alcoholics unquestionably need competent alcohol therapy for their abusive drinking.
And lastly, if you feel more depressed the more you drink, it is likely that you will need to get counseling for your drinking problem and for your depression.
When Abusive And Irresponsible Drinking Results In Serious Health Problems And Relationship And Friendship Difficulties
For more than a few years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong linkage between alcohol addiction and serious health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
As an illustration, in 2005, scientific research and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It may be noted that this immense alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is important to accentuate these facts, it is also important to point out that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
To be more precise, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Definitely, substance abuse research has revealed that alcohol addiction can increase the risk for different kinds of cancer, particularly cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Heavy and recurring drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and abnormality to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Hazardous Drinking Breaks Down the Problem Drinker’s Organs and Systems
What is more, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. As an illustration, chronic, excessive drinking is particularly harmful to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This condition results in a progressive inflammatory injury to the liver that can in the long run lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially deadly medical problem. Abusive, long-term drinking not only can result in critical liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this dangerous may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in severe disease or an untimely death.
The Significance of Alcohol Counseling
It is vital, consequently, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol counseling he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortunately, scientific exploration is continuously unearthing novel and significant information. Recent alcoholism research offers an excellent illustration. Stated differently, for approximately the past ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and long-term irresponsible drinking alters the configuration of the brain to a significant extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the individual lives.
More precisely, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and substantial transformations in the brain.
This type of damage may be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health or directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain or to severe liver disease.
Malnutrition, Abusive Drinking, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of various medical conditions that are substantially associated with alcohol addiction, consider that in accordance with scientific exploration, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a health problem that reduces the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This form of organ failure is related to malnutrition and to an assortment of serious neurological and mental maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is an enduring incapacitating medical condition that is typified by recurring memory and learning complications.
Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Also Leads to in Relationship and Friendship Difficulties
In addition to serious health issues, hazardous drinking also leads to friendship and relationship problems. As an illustration, people who involve themselves in hazardous drinking typically experience divorce, marital difficulties, sexuality problems, and affairs.
Conclusion: The Importance of Education
It is apparent that repetitive, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly associated with numerous dangerous medical problems that can and do lead to dangerous illness and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a large number of individuals will be able to abstain from abusive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the quality treatment they need.
Let us look at this rationally. Yes, alcohol counseling is important, but alcohol therapy is something that is typically done AFTER the fact. Education, to the contrary, is something that is done BEFORE the problem arises. Stated another way, whereas alcohol counseling is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is asserted that both approaches are needed when discussing alcohol problems.
The Significance Of Alcohol Rehabilitation And How Alcohol Dependency And Mental Health Difficulties Regularly Result In Marital, Friendship, Relationship, And Divorce Problems
Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged co-ed high school in the local community. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already achieved a reputation as an educator with instructional approaches that motivated and stimulated pupils to learn and to think.
As an illustration, one Wednesday morning at 8:30 she addressed her students and stated the following: “For the next week we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more wind-ranging perspective and we are also going to learn about some of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a more detailed standpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will without doubt validate that someone with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent person, but the more signs that a drinker manifests, the greater the probability that he or she is a person who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then told the members of the class that each student would be accountable for examining two alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the other class members via a six minute oral presentation.
The Students are Enthused About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcoholism
After learning about the diverse alcohol dependency signs for several days, the time had finally come for the oral presentations. It was instantaneously obvious that the students were enthused about the subject because the information that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm exhibited by the students in her class concerning this subject was an understatement.
The day after all of the pupils completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol addiction signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to go over the list and rank the top five alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After around five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to the students in her class that after she reviews the numbers, she will reveal her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the students while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.
The Students Contrast Their Results With the Results From A Board of Substance Abuse Professionals
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning gave out a piece of paper that listed the top four alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the left of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then informed the pupils in her class that the numbers in the second column she added stood for the answers that were announced by a council of substance abuse authorities.
Miss Benning told the students in her classroom to look over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within 20 or 30 seconds, almost everyone in the class raised his or her hand. It was noticeable that the pupils had some issues, concerns, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the authorities. As an illustration, just about every individual in the classroom had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, namely, “Do you feel awfully ill when you abstain from drinking?”
The Most Important Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her class why this answer was the most unambiguous indicator of alcohol dependency. She stressed the fact that the principal difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
In essence this means that when an alcohol addicted individual abruptly stops drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficit of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol addicted person that something is exceedingly wrong and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in a person’s death if the proper treatment is not immediately undertaken.
Miss Benning then listed the host of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcoholic suddenly quits drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to stress was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcoholism signs that the students had ranked, but the one symptom or sign that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To explain this as clearly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Uncovered A Deviation With the Findings From The Team of Alcohol Addiction Professionals
The students also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol abuse professionals, to be precise, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to get rid of a hangover or to steady your nerves?”
Miss Benning explained to her students that this sign does not necessarily indicate that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does highlight the need that alcohol dependent people have to drink in order to stay away from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the person who is addicted to alcohol, the students started to appreciate the key difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject matter, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol addiction signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would get alcohol addiction treatment?”
After approximately five or six minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils figured that roughly 85 to 95 percent of alcoholics would seek alcohol treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the students thought that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Pupils Were Surprised to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Addicted Individuals in the U.S. Seek Alcohol Dependency Treatment
To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning declared that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the individuals who are alcohol dependent in the United States ask for alcohol addiction rehab. This shocked most of the students because they thought that exposure to the appalling facts and statistics related to alcoholism would motivate most of the individuals who are alcohol dependent to obtain alcohol dependency rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then stated that alcohol dependent people not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on a daily basis so they can avert possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcohol dependent individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than logic or facts. Without a doubt, because the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted person, this is a demanding issue that is difficult to reverse.
The Combination of Alcohol Dependency and Mental Health Difficulties Commonly Results in Friendship, Marital, Divorce, and Relationship Problems
Finally, Miss Benning told her pupils that it is important to comprehend that alcohol dependency and a range of mental health difficulties such as depression are highly correlated. Additionally, the occurrence of mental health difficulties and alcohol dependency commonly lead to relationship, marital, divorce, and friendship problems.
The Pupils are Motivated to Learn About Alcohol Addiction Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, meaning that the end of class had arrived. Based on the enthusiasm exhibited by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning realized that she had stimulated and inspired the students in her class to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our culture.
A Young Male Requires Treatment For His Acute Depression and Divorce Difficulties and For His Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
Nearly a year ago I had dinner with a forty-six-year-old man named Alexander who experiences acute depression, has marital problems, and who is dependent on drugs and alcohol. As affirmed by Alexander, it is his drug and alcohol dependency and his severe depression that had the most to do with his unceasing divorce issues.
I remember reading that a history of mental health concerns, drug abuse, and unhealthy and excessive drinking commonly occur in the same family. Moreover, I have read that under such circumstances, a person needs to get counseling for both medical situations and that addiction and mental health difficulties tend to take place in the same person.
As stated by Alexander, he is so dejected by his divorce issues and by both of his medical conditions that he essentially has no reason to accomplish much of anything. What is especially sad about this is that earlier in his life, Alexander managed to finish two semesters of grad school in botany.
Alexander’s situation makes me question if he is an illustration of a person who can address his drug abuse and alcohol drinking problems and do something constructive about these issues or if he is an individual who has to hit the bottom of the barrel before he gets drug and alcohol dependency treatment that leads to long lasting sobriety.
The Need For a Counseling Program He Can Believe In and a Psychologist He Can Trust
If it would be helpful I would expect that I could advise him about several blogs and websites that could possibly help him learn more about drug abuse symptoms, the stages of alcoholism, substance abuse information, and relationship issues. From where I stand, nonetheless, Alexander needs to locate a rehabilitation program he can believe in and follow through over the long haul and find a psychologist he can trust.
I could be mistaken but it seems logical to conclude that Alexander more likely than not needs to look in the mirror regarding his drug addiction signs and alcoholic symptoms and acknowledge the fact that he cannot abuse drugs or drink at all if he wants to get sober, stay sober, and start on the route to long-term recovery.
It may be asked how therapy would help his drug and alcohol dependency. First of all, there are quite a few recently developed doctor-prescribed drugs that can help Alexander through his withdrawal symptoms, through the alcohol and drug detoxification process, and help him avoid an alcohol or a drug relapse.
Second, Alexander would learn to understand the fact that there is entirely nothing productive about chemical dependency and abusive and unhealthy drinking and that involving himself in one or both circumstances is the route to financial difficulties, legal problems, deteriorating health, shattered relationships, a premature death, and poor work and school performance.
Third, therapy for his depression and for his marital issues might help him manage these mental health difficulties more effectively and perhaps create less of a need for him to engage in addictive behavior.
The Significance of Recovery Groups Like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous
There are possibly several other individuals, family members, and friends who would desire to help Alexander with his drug addiction and his careless and excessive drinking. He possibly would experience greater understanding from a support group such as Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous, however, instead of listening to individuals who drink in moderation or who have never abused drugs.
When People Do Things They Love and About Which They Are Passionate
There’s a philosophical outlook that asserts that individuals who accomplish things they love and something about which they are passionate attain a wonderful place in life. Stated differently, when people do what they love, they almost never experience boredom or an uneventful life. If they get involved in something that is satisfying, what is more, they become more whole and experience more happiness and delight in life, in their relationships, and in their friendships.
When this is thought about for a few minutes it becomes apparent that this affirmative mindset is widely divergent from a life that is centered in chemical dependency because such a lifestyle removes the contentment and delight that life offers.
Since Alexander doesn’t have the ambition to do much of anything in his life, it is evident that he definitely needs a little hope for a more productive lifestyle. And the unfortunate thing is that hope is virtually everywhere around Alexander if he could only get to the point in life to get the counseling he requires for his mental illness and chemical dependency and stay with his treatment program.
Enhanced Relationships, A Wonderful Life, Self Respect, and Constructive Change Are Possibilities
Alexander is clearly too young to be crushed in life. He doesn’t understand this right now but if he can learn how to abstain from alcohol and drugs via drug and alcohol rehab and get the counseling he needs for his severe depression, he can turn his life around and start living with passion, direction, and with self-respect.
More meaningful relationships, constructive change, self respect, and a wonderful life are certainly possibilities for Alexander if only he could get inspired to get the medical treatment he requires, follow through with his treatment protocol, live his life in a healthy and addiction-free way, and learn how to develop a more positive attitude about his existence.
A Young Male Hits Rock Bottom, Prevails Over His Depression, Gets Alcohol Treatment for His Heavy and Hazardous Drinking, Augments His Self Esteem, and Overcomes His Relationship and Dating Issues
Samuel was a forty-seven-year-old court reporter who was tired of feeling depressed everyday of his life and sick of his excessive and unhealthy drinking behavior. Stated briefly, he hated the hangovers he experienced on a regular basis, he was tired of going through broken relationship after broken relationship due to his careless drinking, he was irate with himself for spending his hard-earned money on a worthless habit, he missed his old motivation for doing the things he enjoyed, and he was sick of feeling lethargic every morning.
In addition he detested the fact that he had to go to court for his first DWI, he was bothered by the many times he failed to pass an alcohol test at work, he was bored with his drinking buddies, he was disgusted with how out-of-shape he was, and he was fed up with paying for alcohol-related lawyer fees.
Besides the observable alcohol-related health issues he was going through, conceivably the nastiest part of his drinking regimen was the unreliable and deceitful person he had become. In his heart he realized that he had been lying about his drinking behavior to his relatives, friends, and family and he also knew he had been lying to himself about the “positive” consequences of drinking. Not only this but he rationalized guzzling three or four drinks before going to social events and he also justified needing two or three drinks the first thing in the morning so that he could manage the “pressures” at his place of employment.
His Depression and His Abusive and Irresponsible Drinking Lead to Important Life Changes
Clearly Samuel was sick of putting up with the negative outcomes of his depression and his hazardous and abusive drinking and at long last made up his mind that something important had to change in his life. So he determined that he would abstain from drinking, get professional counseling, start focusing on becoming a more healthy person, develop a new circle of friends, start exercising, and involve himself in some worthwhile hobbies. Stated simply, Samuel got to a time in his life during which he realized that he hit the bottom of the barrel in his life and was now ready to start the slow path that leads to recovery.
One of the ways that Samuel initiated his “plan” was by asking for a transfer at work. When his request was granted, he moved 550 miles away to a new part of the U.S.. If nothing else, this absolutely made making new friends and buddies and separating himself from his old friends much simpler. Then he contacted a healthcare professional in his new city and made an appointment for a comprehensive physical examination.
Samuel Meets With a Healthcare Professional About His Irresponsible Drinking and His Depression
After meeting with the doctor and going through a number of lab tests, it was concluded that Samuel had made the transition from alcohol abuse to alcohol addiction and as a result was in need of alcohol detox and alcohol therapy. At this time, the healthcare practitioner made it a point to review the various signs of alcoholism, the symptoms of alcoholism, and information about long term alcohol effects with Samuel. The healthcare practitioner then told Samuel that it was decided that he was clinically depressed and in need of counseling for this medical issue.
Samuel Decides to Fortify His Body by Drinking Distilled Water, Living an Alcohol-Free Way of Life, Going to the Gym, Eating Wholesome Foods, and Taking Vitamins
Due to his eagerness to follow through with the therapy therapy, after five weeks of inpatient rehab, Samuel was ready to start treatment on an outpatient basis. At this point in time, he started working at his new job and over the weeks began revitalizing his body by drinking filtered water, taking vitamins, eating healthy foods, living an alcohol-free lifestyle, and working out. Samuel also attended to his spiritual side of life by joining the local Catholic church and participating in regular services.
After just about six months of outpatient treatment during which time he never went through an alcohol relapse, Samuel quit going to alcohol therapy and instead began going four times per week to local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Attending these meetings helped Samuel continue his alcohol-free style of life, they provided him with the support he wanted, and they served as a constant reminder of the dangerous outcomes that are related to excessive and abusive drinking.
After going to AA meetings around six months Samuel felt that he was ready for a relationship and so he started dating Holly, a young woman he met at church. It clearly surprised Samuel how much more ready he was for a dating relationship now that he had his unhealthy and abusive drinking under control. Indeed it also amazed Samuel how much better life was now that he wasn’t under the control of his abusive and unhealthy drinking. Life was now worthwhile and loaded with potential that he could have never longed for or attained when he was involved in excessive and unhealthy drinking just a few short months ago.
A Success Story That is a Statement of the Value of Alcohol Therapy and the Power of Positive Change
Samuel’s success story is evidence of the relevance of alcohol treatment and the power of change. As Samuel thought about his newfound self worth and drive for involving himself in healthy, worthwhile activities, he was actually thankful that he decided to do something constructive about his unhealthy drinking instead of giving into his depression and into the lure of his alcoholism. The result: his life now has a positive direction, he is in command of his life rather than letting himself languish under the control of his addiction, he has more energy now compared with any time in his adult life, he is involved in a caring relationship, and he likes his new job responsibilities.