How long do you think it can take someone to develop alcoholism? 6 months? One year? 2 years? 4years?

According to a nationwide survey of U.S. adults aged 18 or older, about 1 in 7 people currently suffering from alcoholism developed it less than a year after having their first drink. But wait, what about the other 6 people from that statistic suffering from alcoholism? How long did it take them to develop it? According to the survey:

• About 1/4 of people who have had alcohol dependence developed it less than 2 years after their first drink.
• About 1/3 of people who have had alcohol dependence developed it in less than 3 years.
• About 1/2 of people who have had alcohol dependence developed it in less than 5 years.

These statistics remind me of a girl I lived in the dorms with in college. She had started drinking her senior year of high school and told us that she planned to just drink through college and then stop. However, midway through her sophomore year she developed alcoholism, which she struggled with for years.

Alcoholism is a deadly beast that can strike swiftly and carries extremely dangerous consequences. Many of its symptoms can go unnoticed, so be aware of the signs before it’s too late.

Facebook—it’s everywhere and it seems as though everyone has it. Our Facebook profiles say a lot about us: who our friends are, what bands we listen to, what movies we like, what we do in our spare time, etc., but can our Facebook profile tell if we are at risk for alcohol abuse?

According to a new study published in in the October 3rd issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Facebook can tell if we are at risk for alcohol abuse. 

The study, sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism focused on public Facebook profiles of more than 300 undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who were then asked to complete a questionnaire that doctors use to gauge if a person has a drinking problem or not. The study found that:  

• College students who post pictures and references to drunkenness are more likely to have a clinically significant drinking problem than students who don’t post such references.
• Those who post such references to intoxication and alcohol abuse are four times as likely as those who don’t post such references, to have an alcohol abuse problem.
•  Approximately half of students who use alcohol report direct alcohol-related harms and as many as 1,700 college student deaths each year are alcohol abuse related.

Take a look at your Facebook profile. Does it display any of these signs of alcohol abuse? It’s never too late to turn your life around. Call us today, we want to help!

For three years I lived in a house as the only girl amongst six boy roommates. While it was mostly drama free, with seven people living together in one house it was a struggle at times to keep things clean and calm. Needless to say, there were definitely times I wished to live alone.

However, a new study has shown that if I were to live alone it would substantially increase my risk of dying from alcohol abuse and its related causes. The study from Finland has found that:

• Of the 18,200 people who died of alcohol-related causes over a six-year period in Finland, two-thirds lived alone.
• Between 2004 and 2007, men living alone were 4.9 times more likely to die of liver damage and disease than married men or men who lived with someone.
• Between 2004 and 2007 women who lived alone were 2.4 times more likely to die of liver disease compared with women who lived with someone.

According to the researchers, while it is impossible to tell whether living alone is a cause or a consequence of alcohol abuse, their findings suggest that people who live alone are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of increased availability of alcohol. Loneliness has long since been recognized as both a contributor and a consequence of alcohol abuse, knowing its triggers can prevent alcohol abuse before it starts.

Not being able to stand straight, wobbly walking, clumsiness; all signs that someone has clearly been drinking. One of the main tests police use to determine if someone is under the influence or not is to have them walk in a straight line, heel to toe. Stumble or fall? You’re usually deemed drunk and most likely arrested.

These signs are supposed to go away once the person becomes sober right? Wrong. A new study has suggested that balance problems can actually afflict heavy drinkers for years, even after they sober up.

In a series of tests, led by the researchers at Neurobehavioral Research Inc. in Honolulu that included more than 200 volunteers, the 70 recently sober ones, meaning they had not had alcohol for 6 to 15 weeks, preformed the worst. In tests performed with their eyes closed, the 82 long-time sober volunteers also performed noticeably worse than the 52 people who had never been alcoholics.

But what exactly does this mean? This study shows that there are residual effects of alcohol abuse beyond the multitude of health issues affiliated with alcoholism. Dr. Kevin Hill states, “A lot of people don’t think about drug and alcohol addictions as chronic medical illnesses, but they are in every way. Just as a person with diabetes might ultimately develop loss of sensation and feeling in extremities, people with alcohol addiction might permanently lose balance and coordination.” 

Another example that the negative consequences stemming from alcohol abuse can continue long after you put the bottle down.

College football season has arrived meaning tailgating has also arrived, and this family oriented ritual may actually be passing on a lot more than the love of the game.  According to research published in the Journal of Adolescence, tailgating has created a legacy of alcohol abuse.

Freshmen at Penn State were asked about their own drinking habits as it pertained to entering college and college football tailgating. Here are some of the astounding statistics:

• The average number of drinks consumed on a typical weekend was 9.14
• The average number of times gotten drunk in the past month was 1.86
• 27% of their mothers and 46% of their fathers engaged in heavy episodic drinking
• 42% reported that their parents tailgated
• 38% said their parents drank at tailgating parties
• 21% said their parents got drunk at these events

According to the study, “when holding all other predictors constant, more frequent parental drunkenness at tailgates was associated with higher student weekend drinking, frequency of drunkenness, and experienced (negative) consequences.”

Here are some other drinking statistics to be aware of before sending your high school graduate away to college:

• Death:  1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.
• Sexual Abuse:  97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.
• Drunk Driving: 3,360,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 drive under the influence of alcohol.
• Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: 31% of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6% for a diagnosis of alcohol addiction in the past 12 months drinking.

Education of the possible dangers associated with alcohol is key in preventing alcohol abuse and addiction.

Denial—the shadow looming over the first step of admitting you’re wrong. We’ve written about denial before, we have pages dedicated to it, and it seems to be one of the few things people understand about addiction…at some point, we all deny the things we are ashamed of, the things we can’t concretely explain, and most of all, the things alcoholics choose to protect themselves from feeling.

Denial is the psychological process that allows an alcoholic to avoid facing the pain and uncomfortable truth regarding the things they don’t want to face, such as their addiction. Here is a list of statements from many people who later came to the conclusion that they were actually an alcoholic and needed alcohol abuse treatment.

• “I’m not a real alcoholic. I haven’t missed a day’s work in five years.”
• “Real alcoholics lose their jobs, houses and families. That hasn’t happened to me.” 
• “Drinking is part of the culture where I work.”
• “I only drink because I’m under pressure at work.”
• “I have a drink to escape from my partner’s nagging.”
• “It’s not my fault I got into an accident. The other driver was going too fast.”
• “I’ll stop drinking as soon as I get out of this relationship.”
• “I’ll be fine as soon as I move away from this dreadful town.”
• “I’m not hurting anybody else, leave me alone.”
• “I don’t need help to stop drinking; I can do it by myself.”
• “I can stop drinking anytime.”
• “I’m not an alcoholic! I drink, I go to detox and sober up. Then I go home and drink. I do it once a year. I’m ok.”

Any of these look familiar? If they do, there is a very real possibility that your loved one may be in denial about their alcohol abuse and suffering from alcoholism; or even worse, you recognize them because you've said them yourself and are now realizing you have been caught in the trap of denial. If you fear you or your loved one is suffering from an alcohol abuse problem don’t hesitate to call us today to embark on the journey to alcohol and drug addiction recovery.

I recently moved to a new house by the beach. After a few weeks of exploring the new area I noticed that there was were more liquor stores and smoke shops than my previous neighborhood. Coincidentally, the next week at work I ran across an article that explains why more alcohol in the community might be the case. The article describes that while the density of business that sell alcohol in a community has been generally tied to local levels of neighborhood violence, new research has found that the influence depends on the nature of the community. It was found that communities with greater levels of disorganization, marked by higher percentages of people living in poverty, and in women-headed households with children and more renters, were hit the hardest by the presence of the alcohol permitting establishments.

William Alex Pridemore, professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University Bloomington explains, “Common values and stronger social cohesion found in more organized communities usually results in a greater ability to regulate the behavior of local retailers and those who patronize the local alcohol outlets.” In other words, communities without “social cohesion” and “organization” are more likely to see an abundance of alcohol in the community. By the same token research shows that adding one off-premise alcohol sales site per square mile would in turn create 2.3 more simple assaults and 0.6 more aggravated assaults per square mile. A catch 22, if you will—the more alcohol establishments create more violence, but more violence and disorganization permits more alcohol in the community; not to mention the alcohol abuse sparked from accessibility.

While yes, I can’t stop the fact that there is an abundant amount of liquor stores in my general vicinity; there is one thing that I can do—I can make a choice on whether or not I walk into that liquor store, or partake in alcohol abuse and violent acts! Understanding information like this about our communities is the first step in combatting alcohol abuse. With awareness comes rationalized decisions, and addiction education is the key. 

When I was in high school, one of the “cool” things to do was to go to the home football games on Friday nights. Everyone would congregate at the stadium and hang out with their friends, with a slim percentage actually watching the game. I vividly remember one game my freshman year; there I was just hanging out talking to a few friends when all of the sudden there was a big commotion. An ambulance had come screeching to a halt and paramedics were running towards a group of girls a few feet away from us. They were all huddled around another girl who lay vomiting on the ground. The paramedics strapped the girl to a stretcher and whisked her away.

After their departure, the crowd began murmuring to each other trying to figure out what had happened. Eventually it was found out that the girl had gotten alcohol poisoning. This incident took place before my mom talked to me about the dangers of drinking, and while yes I was mildly curious to drinking alcohol having not seen anything like that before, I was also immediately turned off to alcohol abuse.

The news, our blogs, twitter streams and print ads spread through society like wildfire with warnings of alcohol and drug abuse; yet so many people continue to binge drink! So what do you do if your friend gets alcohol poisoning and you need to help them? Common myths about sobering up include drinking black coffee, taking a cold bath or shower, sleeping it off, or walking it off, they are just that—myths. The only proven method that reverses the effects of alcohol is time, which is also something you may not have if you or someone you know is suffering from alcohol poisoning. That being said, it is important to know the critical signs of alcohol poisoning before it’s too late to get someone help.

Critical Signs of Alcohol Poisoning:   

• Mental confusion, stupor, coma, or person cannot be roused.
• Vomiting.
• Seizures.
• Slow breathing (fewer than eight breaths per minute).
• Irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths).
• Hypothermia (low body temperature), bluish skin color, paleness.

Your education about the dangers of alcohol abuse and what to do in the event one of your friends or loved ones are suffering from the devastating consequences can be the difference between their life and death.

You’ve just had a long stressful day at work. A big project is coming up and it is requiring everyone to come in early and stay late. Or, you already have a job that requires you to work at least 50 hours a week. All you want to do when you get home is sit down put your feet up and grab a beer, glass of wine, or a stiff drink, a way to unwind from the long days at work. Sound familiar? You don’t have a problem; you just want a drink after a long day, right?
However, a recent study from the University of Otago, Christchurch has discovered that working at least 50 hours a week increases the risk of developing an alcohol abuse problem by up to three times. Data for the study was used from the Christchurch Health and Development Study which has followed more than 1,000 people born in Christchurch in 1977 through to the age of 30.

The data they compiled showed a significant association between longer working hours and alcohol-related problems. Longer working hours were found to be associated with higher levels of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence for both males and females. So how do we go about combating this association? The lead author of the study, Dr. Sheree Gibb says that these findings may suggest a need for consideration of policies and programs targeted at individuals who work long hours, with the aim of reducing rates of alcohol abuse problems.

If you find yourself in a part of this group, working at least 50 hours a week, make sure you are aware of the warning signs of alcoholism. While you may not notice it right away, alcohol abuse and alcoholism can have devastating lifelong effects on your body. Know the warning signs now before it’s too late! Next time you think “I don’t have a problem I just need a drink after my long day” you may be fooling yourself and the problem has just begun.  

A conversation with a friend sparked the other day from her experience in receiving a DUI, or driving under the influence citation, noting that when she was pulled over that night for drinking and driving it had not been the first. After she was arrested she had to sit in a cell at the police station for hours until she was released and her friend came and picked her up. She explained that the aftermath of the citation cost her thousands of dollars in court fees, fines, and DUI classes; not to mention she lost her license for a while. Yet, after going through all that, she said she still drives sometimes when she knows she shouldn’t and that people have to physically take her keys away in order to stop her.

This conversation made me realize I could name at least 6 people off the top of my head that have received a citation for a DUI in the past year and a half and many don’t seem that upset or embarrassed over the fact, even posting about it on social networking sites such as Facebook. Across the nation, 17,602 people lost their lives, and 159 people were injured in a DUI related car crash in 2006, and those are just the ones who were caught. 159 million people have reported to have had episodes of being under the influence while driving. The 159 million people don’t just include those driving under the influence of alcohol, but also include those driving under the influence of prescription, nonprescription, or other illegal drugs as well.

My conversation with my friend, as well as that statistic got me thinking. 159 people. That’s a lot of people out there driving under the influence that have never been caught. Through some research, I came across an article that may vastly change these numbers. According to the article, fingertips may make DUI cases a lot easier to solve as scientists have developed a new fingertip test that can be used to detect whether someone is driving under the influence of drugs through the tests on their sweat pores. The technique was first used to detect nicotine, but now works on a range of drugs, including cocaine, methadone, and marijuana. When discussing this article with a few friends, some questions were raised. Are they able to tell how much this device can detect and the specifications? How little can it test? Will it come up as positive if you smoked 6 hours ago and while you may not be “high” anymore it might still be in your system? While we can only wait and see, this new device is allowing us to take a step in the right direction to help reduce and stop drinking and driving.