Category Archives: Heavy Drinking

May 17

College Drinking Consequences

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A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences

The consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses, college communities, and college students, whether they choose to drink or not.

Annual statistics:

  • Death:  1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes
  • Injury:  599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol
  • Assault:  696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking
  • Sexual Abuse:  97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape
  • Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex
  • Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall
  • Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem, and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use.
  • Drunk Driving: 3,360,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 drive under the influence of alcohol
  • Vandalism: About 11 percent of college student drinkers report that they have damaged property while under the influence of alcohol
  • Property Damage: More than 25 percent of administrators from schools with relatively low drinking levels and over 50 percent from schools with high drinking levels say their campuses have a "moderate" or "major" problem with alcohol-related property damage
  • Police Involvement: About 5 percent of 4-year college students are involved with the police or campus security as a result of their drinking, and  110,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are arrested for an alcohol-related violation such as public drunkenness or driving under the influence.
  • Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking
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May 15

Stages of Change

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People pass through stages of change when they have a problem behavior such as drinking too much, drugging, excessive gambling, co-dependency or sex addiction.

These stages are:

Precontemplation is the stage in which there is no intention to change behavior in the foreseeable future. Most patients in this stage are unaware or under aware of their problems. This is often, perhaps wrongly, called ‘denial’ and lying.

Families, friends, neighbors or employees, however, are often well aware that the precontemplators suffer from the problems.

Contemplation is the stage in which patients are aware that a problem exists and are seriously thinking about overcoming it but have not yet made a commitment to take action.

Contemplators struggle with their positive evaluations of their dysfunctional behavior and the amount of effort, energy, and loss it will cost to overcome it.

Preparation is the stage in which individuals are intending to take action in the next month and are reporting some small behavioral changes (‘‘baby steps’’). Although they have made some reductions in their problem behaviors, patients in the preparation stage have not yet reached a criterion for effective action.

Action is the stage in which individuals modify their behavior, experiences, and/or environment to overcome their problems. Action involves the most overt behavioral changes and requires considerable commitment of time and energy. Individuals are classified in the action stage if they have successfully altered the dysfunctional behavior for a period from 1 day to 6 months.

Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse and consolidate the gains attained during action. This stage extends from 6 months to an indeterminate period past the initial action. Remaining free of the problem and/or consistently engaging in a new incompatible behavior for more than 6 months are the criteria for the maintenance stage.

Self quiz:

  • Do you have behavior that may need changing?
  • What is your problem behavior?
  • Have you a need to change?
  • Which stage of change have you reached?
  • How can you reach a healthy goal?
  • Do you need help?

Related Reading:

12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery: Avoiding Relapse through Self-Awareness and Right Action
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Allen Carr's Easyway to Control Alcohol


May 13

Drinking and Driving

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Drinking and Driving: A Threat to Everyone

U.S. drivers got behind the wheel after drinking too much about 112 million times in 2010.

Whenever anyone drives drunk, they put everyone on the road in danger. Choose not to drink and drive and help others do the same.

Though episodes of drinking and driving have gone down by 30% during the past 5 years, it remains a serious problem. Alcohol-impaired drivers are involved in about 1 in 3 crash deaths, resulting in nearly 11,000 deaths in 2009.

Certain groups are more likely to drink and drive than others.

  • Men were responsible for 4 in 5 episodes (81%) of drinking and driving in 2010.
  • Young men ages 21-34 made up only 11% of the U.S. population in 2010, yet were responsible for 32% of all instances of drinking and driving.
  • 85% of drinking and driving episodes were reported by people who also reported binge drinking. Binge drinking means 5 or more drinks for men or 4 or more drinks for women during a short period of time.

Some likely alcohol effects on driving

bac

Adapted from The ABCs of BAC, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2005, and How to Control Your Drinking, WR Miller and RF Munoz, University of New Mexico, 1982.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)*

Typical Effects

Predictable Effects on Driving

.02%

Some loss of judgment

Relaxation

Slight body warmth

Altered mood

Decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target)

Decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention)

.05%

Exaggerated behavior

May have loss of small-muscle control (e.g., focusing your eyes)

Impaired judgment

Usually good feeling

Lowered alertness

Release of inhibition

Reduced coordination

Reduced ability to track moving objects

Difficulty steering

Reduced response to emergency driving situations

.08%

Muscle coordination becomes poor (e.g., balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing)

Harder to detect danger

Judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are impaired

Concentration

Short-term memory loss

Speed control

Reduced information processing capability (e.g., signal detection, visual search)

Impaired perception

.10%

Clear deterioration of reaction time and control

Slurred speech, poor coordination, and slowed thinking

Reduced ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately

.15%

Far less muscle control than normal

Vomiting may occur (unless this level is reached slowly or a person has developed a tolerance
for alcohol)

Major loss of balance

Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing

*Information in this table shows the BAC level at which the effect usually is first observed, and has been gathered from a variety of sources including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the American Medical Association, the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, and webMD.

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May 11

Religiosity in Adolescence may Deter Alcohol Use

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adolecence
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During the teen years, adolescents have ample opportunity to experience initiation into alcohol consumption. While research has shown that many environmental factors such as the number of drinking friends, family income level and parental involvement all contribute to how adolescents decide whether to drink, there are also biological factors at play.

More at Religiosity in Adolescence may Deter Alcohol Use | Addiction Treatment.

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May 10

Alcoholism Is …

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  • Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, and often fatal disease.

  • It is a primary disorder and not a symptom of other diseases or emotional problems.

The chemistry of alcohol allows it to affect nearly every type of cell in the body, including those in the central nervous system. After prolonged exposure to alcohol, the brain adapts to the changes alcohol makes and becomes dependent on it. The severity of this disease is influenced by factors such as genetics, psychology, culture, and response to physical pain.

Signs of alcoholism or alcohol dependence include the following:

  • The only indication of early alcoholism may be the unpleasant physical responses to withdrawal that occur during even brief periods of abstinence.

  • Alcoholics have little or no control over the quantity they drink or the duration or frequency of their drinking.

  • They are preoccupied with drinking, deny their own addiction, and continue to drink even though they are aware of the dangers.

  • Over time, some people become tolerant to the effects of drinking and require more alcohol to become intoxicated, creating the illusion that they can “hold their liquor.”

  • They have blackouts after drinking and frequent hangovers that cause them to miss work and other normal activities.

  • Alcoholics might drink alone and start early in the day.

  • They periodically quit drinking or switch from hard liquor to beer or wine, but these periods rarely last.

  • Severe alcoholics often have a history of accidents, marital and work instability, and alcohol-related health problems.

  • Episodic violent and abusive incidents involving spouses and children and a history of unexplained or frequent accidents are often signs of drug or alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism can develop insidiously, and often there is no clear line between problem drinking and alcoholism. Eventually alcohol dominates thinking, emotions, and actions and becomes the primary means through which a person can deal with people, work, and life.

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Donât Let the Bastards Grind You Down: 50 Things Every Alcoholic and Addict in Early Recovery Should Know, or How to Stay Clean and Sober, Recovery from Addiction and Substance Abuse


May 07

Female Heavy Drinkers have Smaller Brains

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Female drinkers lose brain volume more quickly than men, according to researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

The BBC reported May 15 that researchers took brain scans of 150 women – about half of them alcoholics – and found that the heavy drinkers have smaller brains.

Female alcoholics were found to lose the same brain volume as male alcoholics, but suffered atrophy much more quickly.

"Women typically start drinking later in life and consume less" said lead study author Karl Mann. "But there is evidence for a faster progress of the events leading to dependence among female alcoholics and an earlier onset of adverse consequences of alcoholism. This suggests that women may be more vulnerable to chronic alcohol consumption."

From Join Together Online

Mann, K., Ackermann, K., Croissant, B., Mundle, G., Nakovics, H., & Diehl, A. (2005) Neuroimaging of Gender Differences in Alcohol Dependence: Are Women More Vulnerable? Alcoholism: Clinical and Epidemiological Research, 29(5): 896-901.

See also

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May 04

Alcohol & Women’s Health

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GirlsPartying Excessive Alcohol Use and Risks to Women’s Health

Although men are more likely to drink alcohol and drink in larger amounts, gender differences in body structure and chemistry cause women to absorb more alcohol, and take longer to break it down and remove it from their bodies (i.e., to metabolize it). In other words, upon drinking equal amounts, women have higher alcohol levels in their blood than men, and the immediate effects occur more quickly and last longer. These differences also make women more vulnerable to alcohol’s long-term effects on their health.

Reproductive Health

  • National surveys show that about 6 out of every 10 women of child-bearing age (i.e., aged 18–44 years) use alcohol, and slightly less than one-third of women who drink alcohol in this age group binge drink.
  • In 2008, about 7.2% of pregnant women used alcohol.
  • Excessive drinking may disrupt menstrual cycling and increase the risk of infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature delivery.
  • Women who binge drink are more likely to have unprotected sex and multiple sex partners. These activities increase the risks of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Alcohol and Pregnancy

  • Women who drink alcohol while pregnant increase their risk of having a baby with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The most severe form is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), which causes mental retardation and birth defects.
  • FASD are completely preventable if a woman does not drink while pregnant or while she may become pregnant.
  • Studies have shown that about 1 of 20 pregnant women drank excessively before finding out they were pregnant. No amount of alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy. For women who drink during pregnancy, stopping as soon as possible may lower the risk of having a child with physical, mental, or emotional problems.
  • Research suggests that women who drink alcohol while pregnant are more likely to have a baby die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This risk substantially increases if a woman binge drinks during her first trimester of pregnancy.
  • The risk of miscarriage is also increased if a woman drinks excessively during her first trimester of pregnancy.

Other Health Concerns

  • Liver Disease: The risk of cirrhosis and other alcohol-related liver diseases is higher for women than for men.
  • Impact on the Brain: Excessive drinking may result in memory loss and shrinkage of the brain. Research suggests that women are more vulnerable than men to the brain damaging effects of excessive alcohol use, and the damage tends to appear with shorter periods of excessive drinking for women than for men.
  • Impact on the Heart: Studies have shown that women who drink excessively are at increased risk for damage to the heart muscle than men even for women drinking at lower levels.
  • Cancer: Alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast among women. The risk of breast cancer increases as alcohol use increases.
  • Sexual Assault: Binge drinking is a risk factor for sexual assault, especially among young women in college settings. Each year, about 1 in 20 college women are sexually assaulted. Research suggests that there is an increase in the risk of rape or sexual assault when both the attacker and victim have used alcohol prior to the attack.

More at; Alcohol Fact Sheets

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May 02

Time to Develop Alcoholism

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How Long Does It Take Alcohol Dependence To Develop?

How long fpr alcoholism to develop About 1 in 7 adults who have had alcohol dependence, commonly known as alcoholism, developed it less than a year after having their first drink, according to a nationwide survey of U.S. adults aged 18 or older.

  • About a quarter of people who have had alcohol dependence developed it less than 2 years after their first drink,
  • about a third in less than 3 years, and
  • about half in less than 5 years.

In the United States, most people have had their first drink by the time they leave high school. This fact, combined with the relatively rapid onset of dependence in many drinkers, helps to explain why alcohol dependence is found most commonly in young adults. About 1 in 9 people aged 18–24 have alcohol dependence, more than twice the proportion of any other age group.

The survey also shows that alcohol dependence occurs only rarely among drinkers who always stay within the following limits:

  • for men, no more than 4 drinks on any single day and 14 per week;
  • for women, no more than 3 drinks on any day and 7 per week.
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May 01

Alcohol Abuse and the Liver

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Woman drinking glass of white wine Alcohol abuse affects our health and our body in a variety of ways.

Several key organs and internal functions can be irreparably damaged because of heavy drinking over an extended period of time. Chief among those areas at risk is the liver – one of our body’s most crucial organs. Once the liver is damaged by alcohol, a number of serious health problems can ensue – many of which eventually lead to death.

The liver is “in charge” of processing the alcohol that enters your body. A healthy liver is able to properly process about one drink (one ounce of alcohol) per hour. If you drink more than this, the liver is unable to do its job and body starts to become saturated with alcohol.

What happens when your body becomes saturated with alcohol? The unprocessed alcohol goes straight to your brain and causes the kind of behavior commonly associated with drunkenness (impaired judgment, loss of inhibitions, etc.).

But over time, a much bigger problem begins to occur.

When someone engages in heavy drinking over a long period of time, the liver becomes swelled and fatty. A fatty liver causes several key internal problems:

  • It chokes off the supply of blood coming into the liver – which keeps oxygen and crucial nutrients from being delivered.
  • The lack of oxygen and nutrients causes liver cells to sicken and die
  • The live liver cells are replaced with scar tissue (this process is known as cirrhosis of the liver).

Once cirrhosis of the liver occurs, the individual is no longer able to properly tolerate alcohol because the liver lacks the proper cells to process and metabolize it.

How likely is a person to get cirrhosis of the liver?

Genetics play a big role in whether or not someone is stricken with cirrhosis of the liver. If the drinker has a history of the problem in his family, then he might show symptoms relatively quickly (in as little as a year of consuming 3-4 drinks per day).

On the other hand, there are some people who drink heavily on a regular basis for their entire lives and never get cirrhosis.

What happens if the liver fails because of excessive alcohol consumption?

The results can be fatal. The liver is a crucial part of our how our body functions. It is responsible for so many vital operations that we cannot live without it. The liver is:

  • The largest organ in the human body
  • Responsible for most of the blood flow between the intestinal tract to the heart
  • The storage area for glycogen – the body’s breakdown of sugar which is used to generate energy
  • Responsible for breaking down toxins that occur with the body’s metabolism.

One of the most prominent warning signs of cirrhosis of the liver is jaundice. Jaundice is characterized by a yellowing of the skin and the eyes.

Not only older people are candidates for cirrhosis of the liver. Young people just out of their teens (who have already been drinking for years) have experienced liver failure brought on by cirrhosis of the liver.

Article Source: Author: Scott Briggs

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Apr 29

Alcohol Abuse Warning Signs

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  • Drinking more heavily when under pressure, or after an argument or disappointment

  • Waking up, and not being able to remember part of the evening before (blackouts)

  • Sneaking extra drinks when at a social gathering

  • Feeling uneasy when in a situation that alcohol is not available

  • Feeling guilty or worried about your drinking

  • Continuing to drink after others have stopped

  • Trying to control your drinking by switching brands

  • Avoiding other people in favor of spending time drinking

  • Problems at work arising from drinking or hangovers

  • Having a drink in the morning in order to get over a hangover

  • Feeling chronically irritable or depressed

In general, as the saying goes, “You know you have a drinking problem when your drinking causes problems”. These problems may be on the job, in interpersonal relationships, or emotional.

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