Alcohol Addiction
When someone refers to alcohol, thanks to longstanding advertising, one is apt to think of a favorite beer, wine, vodka, rum, whiskey, or the numerous other variations it is known as in today's society.
Regardless of the kind or manufacturer brand or label, alcohol that is used in beverages is a particular type of alcohol called ethyl alcohol. This type of alcohol is the result of fermentation of grains and fruits. Fermenting is a chemical process whereby yeast acts upon certain ingredients in the food and creates alcohol. Beer and wine result from fermented drinks which contain anywhere from 2% to 20% ethyl alcohol. When the alcohol is produced using distillation, as in liquor, the drink can contain 40-50% or more ethyl alcohol. Examples of this are Tequila, Rum, Brandy, Gin, Whiskey, Vodka and Liqueurs.
Although fermentation and the above description sounds very scientific, and make no doubt about it, the actual process and ability to produce the same mixture and the manufacturing method are all quite scientific and a matter of pride among manufacturers, the more coarse description is simply, rotten food is left to sit and from the liquid that floats to the surface of this rotten food mixture, one's alcohol drink of choice is made.
Alcohol is possibly the oldest and most popular drug in the world. It is a part of religious rituals, a mainstay during holidays and celebrations and broadly used and distributed worldwide. Given its legal status in the U.S. it makes it one of the easier drugs to obtain and abuse at will.
The Downside of Alcohol
The problem with alcohol is although in small amounts it may have some medicinal value, it is usually grossly overdone. The sad part of alcohol is the user taking it often feels they are not impaired when in fact they are. Alcohol distorts a person's perceptions and judgment, this is why drinking and driving is so widespread. The person feels certain they are perfectly capable of driving or doing some other task, when to any sober bystander it is clearly not the case.
In the United States, every minute one person is injured from an alcohol-related crash. This year 10,839 people will die in drunk-driving crashes- one every 50 minutes. Although police do set up check points on popular drinking holidays, the truth is the average drunk driver has driven 87 times before his first arrest. Even after arrest and conviction, 50-75% of these drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license. As one in three eighth graders drinks alcohol, it is no surprise that by the time they are driving, car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, one in three being alcohol related. Teen alcohol use kills about 6000 people a year, more than all illegal drugs combined.
Alcohol is no doubt one of the most serious drugs abused we face.
Although tougher laws on drunk driving have come into play the statistics given above, have not been adequately reduced to say this is a total solution to the problem. People abuse alcohol as it is culturally acceptable to do so. By the time a child has reach his teens he has been exposed to countless TV ads, movies, celebrities, all promoting the glories of getting drunk. As children learn by example, until more responsible examples are set, or effective widespread drug education is done, it is doubtful the problem will diminish.
Alcohol is a Drug
Alcohol behaves for a person like other drugs. Although alcohol is water-soluble instead of fat-soluble, as other drugs are, it still has numerous potential side effects. Addiction is one of those.
Anytime a person identifies a substance with a relief from a life problem, this opens the door to addiction. If a person is stressed out at his job and comes home in the evening and drinks "to take the edge off", he has now associated relief from his problems by drinking. As long as he remains in control he may be just fine.
However, as is too often the case, the person, having not handled his life problem or the source of his stress at work, comes home and drinks more and more to get the same "relief". His mood begins to change; he becomes more dissociated from his wife and children. His only relief seems to be from the bottle. He winds up with a "drinking problem".
The truth is alcohol, like other drugs burns up essential vitamins and nutrition in a body. This is the reason for hangovers. Hangovers are the result of the body having been poisoned by alcohol use and the resultant nutritional deficiencies from the body working overtime to handle this poisoning. This leads to feeling "sickish" or bad or depressed. The person now not only has his original problem to deal with but now feels bad physically. The usual answer is more alcohol, making the problem even worse.
Peer pressure among young adults and teens is a primary cause of alcohol abuse. Binge drinking is so common among high school and college students; it's almost expected as a rite of passage. However, as anyone who has "tied one on" knows this "rite of passage" often leads, on the mild side to embarrassment and on the severe side to tragedy.
This same peer pressure often acts to cover up alcohol dependence. It becomes a usual event. Alcoholism is progressive. It is a long road that continuously gets worse. Most drinkers on this path will say they can stop at any time they choose. Somehow they never seem to choose to do so. The problem just gets worse.
The Solution to Alcohol Dependence
Narconon has long been handling alcohol dependence. Graduates of the Narconon drug rehabilitation programdon't have to go on considering they are alcoholics, but instead by doing the full Narconon program, they not only handle for good their physical cravings, they also gain new life skills to overcome the problems they were unable to face. Alcoholics who do the full Narconon alcohol rehabilitation program go on to lead happy, productive drug-free lives.
For more information or to get help for someone you suspect may be struggling with alcoholism, call Narconon today at 877-237-3307.