Posted by fredjoiners on June 18, 2008
Where does one draw the line between being a social drinker and having an alcohol addiction?
For many people, the lines aren’t always so clear, especially when everyone around them seems to be binge drinking, drinking on a daily basis or glamorizing alcohol use.
Social drinking can easily progress into a psychological, or even physical, dependence over time, as it becomes habitually ingrained in our behavioral patterns.
Suddenly, we drink to be more interesting, drink to make others more interesting, drink for courage in social settings, drink to give ourselves a boost of energy, or drink to cover up negative feelings like pain, depression or anxiety.
Prior to an addiction to alcohol, there is generally a prolonged time period when the social drinker finds that he or she is drinking more frequently, experiencing more adverse effects and is slightly losing control.
Alcohol abusers start showing signs like drinking and driving, participating in dangerous activities while under the influence, continuing to drink even when problems with friends or family happen as a result of alcohol consumption and getting into physical fights. Drinking alcohol begins to interfere with not only social relations, but also obligations at work and school, and in some cases, drinking may even land an individual in legal trouble. These are early warning signs that alcohol use is crossing over into alcohol abuse.
The next stage is alcohol addiction, or as it is sometimes called, alcoholism or alcohol dependency.
Now the drinker loses all control and the physiological/psychological effects of alcohol surface. Drinkers find that they’re consuming more than they originally intended to, find that they can’t stop or cut back drinking, and find that they need to drink more to get drunk. They may have trouble sleeping, have shaky hands, sweating, nauseousness, nervousness or the feeling of bugs crawling all over them. They likely drink or take medication to avoid hangovers and continue drinking alcohol to cover up sadness, anger or anxiety. The binge drinking bouts become progressively longer and the individual often loses interest in all other hobbies in favor of drinking.
Full story at Cool Kids Stuff
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Posted in Brain, Emotions, Health, Liver, Youth, addiction, alcohol, alcoholism, men, women | Tagged: binge, dependence, drinker, psychological, social | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on June 10, 2008
Alcohol and pregnancy; New draft alcohol guidelines for Australia state that, for pregnant women and women planning pregnancy,
‘no drinking is the safest option’.
One of the best known adverse effects of alcohol exposure on the fetus is the fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
Others include
- alcohol-related birth defects,
- alcohol-related brain development disorders and
- increased risks of miscarriage,
- stillbirth,
- intrauterine growth restriction,
- preterm birth and
- low birthweight.
Over half of Australian women consume alcohol during pregnancy. Obstetricians have a pivotal role in advising women of the effects of alcohol on the fetus and reducing fetal exposure.
Volume 48 Issue 3 Page 236-239, June 2008, Elizabeth J. ELLIOTT, Carol BOWER (200 
Alcohol and pregnancy: The pivotal role of the obstetrician
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 48 (3) , 236–239.
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Posted in Brain, alcohol, alcoholism, women | Tagged: Australia, birth defects, drinking, FAS, fetus, miscarriage, obstetrician, pregnancy, pregnant, preterm, stillbirth | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on June 10, 2008
Women’s childhood and adult adverse experiences, mental health, and binge drinking: The California Women’s Health Survey.
Researchers surveyed nearly 7,000 women in California during 2003-4 and found that 9.3% were involved in binge drinking.
The reasons given for alcohol abuse in this manner were;
Poor physical health, and poorer mental health, including;
- symptoms of PTSD,
- anxiety,
- depression,
- feeling overwhelmed by stress
Adverse experiences in adulthood, including;
- intimate partner violence,
- having been physically or sexually assaulted, or
- having experienced the death of someone close
In childhood, including;
- living with someone abusing substances or mentally ill, or
- with a mother victimized by violence, or
- having been physically or sexually assaulted
The study concluded that identifying characteristics of women who engage in binge drinking is a key step in prevention and intervention efforts.
Binge drinking programs should consider comprehensive approaches that address women’s mental health symptoms as well as circumstances in the childhood home.
Women’s childhood and adult adverse experiences, mental health, and binge drinking: The California Women’s Health Survey. Christine Timko, Anne Sutkowi, Joanne Pavao and Rachel Kimerling. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2008, 3:1.
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Posted in Health, PTSD, Sexuality, Stress, alcohol, women | Tagged: drinking, mental, assault, depression, anxiety, binge, California, domestic violence, abusing, substance, victim | 1 Comment »
Posted by fredjoiners on May 29, 2008
Scottish patients face quiz over drink habits at Last
A MULTIMILLION pound scheme has been launched to halt serious alcohol problems before they take hold in drinkers who are unaware they are exceeding safe limits.
Doctors, nurses and dentists across Scotland will be trained to quiz thousands of patients about their drinking habits and offer counselling to those breaching safe levels.
Women who regularly drink more than three units a day and men who drink more than five will be subjected to a ‘brief intervention’, where NHS staff will warn them about the dangers of alcohol, ask them to cut back on their drinking and tell them to return for a follow-up appointment.
Despite repeated attempts to highlight safe levels of alcohol, in Scotland there is still confusion about how much it is safe to drink. High on the list of people health officials want to reach are those who drink at home in the evening, after work and at weekends. They are unwittingly putting themselves at risk of a range of health problems, including high blood pressure and liver disease.
The move, part of an £85m three-year Scottish Government alcohol strategy, will see around one in six Scots ’screened’ for their drinking habits during routine appointments with GP’s, dentists and nurses.
Full story at Scotland on Sunday
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Posted in Doctors, Recovery, Training, alcohol, alcoholism, men, treatment, women | Tagged: counselling, dentists, drinker, GP's, nurses, patients, Scotland | No Comments »
