Alcohol Abuse Basics

image: young man holding head after drinking image: nurse checking old female alcoholic image: old female alcoholic looking lost image: old man lost in thought while drinking

Alcohol Abuse - The Real Life Effects

By Gabriel J. Adams

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Alcohol is a dangerous substance by all accounts. It can be fun in certain situations. Some studies have even shown a glass of wine can improve your health. However, too much of anything can be bad. This is never truer than with alcohol. Alcohol abuse can tear apart your life and your family’s lives.

According to the Silver Gate Group, brewers say they follow voluntary advertising standards to avoid appealing to underage consumers. Their own ads, however, reveal substantial youth appeal.

Sure, you probably looked cool at the party the other night. You may have downed a few beers in a chugging contest with your buddy’s. You may have been the king of the party. People were quite possibly cheering your name. Then the room started to spin. It probably felt pretty cool for a little bit.

According to the 2000 Monitoring the Future study conducted each year for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 22 percent of U.S. 8th graders say they have consumed alcohol, and 8 percent say they have been drunk within the past year.

After a while you probably didn’t feel so good. You then manage to say a few stupid things to people that you shouldn’t say. You might have even hit on your best friend’s girlfriend. Then you officially get sick. Your significant other spends a few hours holding your head over the toilet. The next thing you remember, its morning. Your head is pounding. You spend the rest of the morning drinking as much water as possible. The day is pretty much wasted.

Does this sound familiar? You got sick, looked like an idiot, and managed to anger your best friend. What did you gain? Probably a migraine and a wasted day after the party. Yet, you continually do it week after week.

According to researcher Erica Austin, a professor at Washington State University, decisions about drinking are made over time, and young people are influenced by being exposed to ads since childhood.

Hopefully, the above example illustrated to you just how stupid alcohol abuse can be. In moderation, alcohol can be fine. It might help you relax or you may just drink socially. Just be careful not to let a occasional occurrence turn into an addiction. The effects can be devastating. There is no telling how many marriages and families have been broken up over alcohol abuse. It is just not worth the risks involved.

This is not even taking into account the health risks that are involved. If you drink frequently, your liver has to work overtime. When you’re young, this probably doesn’t matter to you. However, when you turn 40 and you need a liver transplant, you’ll definitely regret it. Besides the health effects, it can shorten your life in other ways. Drunk drivers kill more people all the time.

Some drinking common sense: If you have stopped your abusive and alcohol dependent drinking behavior, make sure that you seek professional assistance if you feel the desire to drink again. Taking this one step can go a long way in preventing a drinking relapse.

People who abuse alcohol are much more likely to get behind the wheel of a car. Therefore, they are much more likely to be involved in an accident. You could die or kill an innocent family. Even if you live, you’ll definitely end up in jail. The risks greatly outweigh the benefits. The next time you decide to party, you may want to think of the consequences.

Opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the view of Texas Alcohol Recovery Center / Site Map which the author would like for you to visit.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gabriel_J._Adams

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Alcohol addiction research shows that if your friends or family members have been concerned about your drinking behavior, you just may have a drinking problem that you haven't come to grips with or admitted. One of the earliest signs of alcoholism concerns blackouts, that is, being wide awake but not being able to remember things that you did and said at the time you were drinking. In short, if you have experienced blackouts, you may have a serious drinking problem. If this is the case, you need to make an appointment with your doctor or another healthcare profession and get a physical and discuss your drinking behavior with him or her.

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