Addiction Group
Addiction Group
Written by
Michael Bayba
How to Prevent Alcoholism
How to Reduce Your Risk of Alcohol Addiction
Preventing Alcohol Addiction in Young Adults
Preventing Alcohol Addiction in Older People
Alcohol Treatment Options
Overview: Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
We’re here to help you or your loved one.
855.217.2693
https://www.addictiongroup.org/alcohol/addiction/prevention/
Alcohol use disorder (AUD), commonly referred to as alcoholism, alcohol addiction, or alcohol abuse, is a devastating substance use disorder (SUD). The effects of alcohol can damage your health, relationships, and overall well-being. Learning how to prevent alcoholism can mean the difference between a fulfilling life and one filled with alcohol-related challenges.
One of the most important things you can do to prevent alcohol dependency is to understand the risk factors of developing the disorder. Some people have a higher risk than others for developing an alcohol use disorder.
For instance, high-risk individuals include people who:
Start drinking alcohol early in their adolescence
Have a family history of alcohol or drug use
Are men
Need higher amounts of alcohol to feel intoxicated
Have an unhealthy heavy drinking pattern
Binge drink
Are dealing with a mental health issue, such as depression or anxiety
Grew up and are still a part of a family or culture in which it is acceptable to drink a lot
Men who have more than five standard drinks and women who have more than four drinks per occasion within two hours (binge drinkers) face a greater risk for developing alcohol use disorder. Men who have more than 15 drinks and women who have more than eight drinks per week (heavy drinkers) also do.
It’s important to realize that there is no stereotypical or standard alcoholic, which makes it more challenging to figure out how to prevent alcohol use disorder. Addiction to alcohol can affect people from all parts of the general population, in all income brackets, and all career or educational situations.
Someone can also be functional when they are an alcoholic and lead a normal life while dealing with an alcohol use disorder.
How to Reduce Your Risk of Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol is a legal drug that is fully accepted by society as a normal part of adult life. Many even view underage drinking as a normal part of growing up in the United States, despite it being illegal. This attitude makes it difficult for someone with an alcohol use disorder to escape the pressure to drink. In many cases, social situations even include peer pressure to consume alcohol. This pressure exists for people of all ages, not just teens.
If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol dependence, it can be difficult to overcome. However, there are steps you can take to manage alcohol consumption and reduce the risk of drinking when you are dealing with alcohol challenges.
The following health information will help you create healthy alcohol consumption habits and help prevent alcohol addiction:
Prevent Alcohol Addiction by Not Keeping Alcoholic Beverages in Your Home
Having alcohol in your home increases the likelihood you’ll consume it. Just as someone dieting would avoid stocking high-calorie treats, you should not have alcohol just a few steps away when you’re trying to reduce your intake. Replace alcoholic beverages with alcohol-free options like club soda or juice.
Prevent Alcohol Addiction by Avoiding Emotional Drinking
It’s common for people to turn to alcohol when they are feeling negative emotions. It’s also a big part of celebrations when people are happy and feeling good. Using alcohol in either situation can increase the likelihood of eventually developing a dependency or alcohol use disorder.
Prevent Alcohol Addiction by Not Binge Drinking
If you’re the type of person who goes into a situation with alcohol intending to get “blackout drunk,” it’s time to discuss your drinking behavior with a professional. If you accidentally over-consume alcohol in social situations because of distraction or awkwardness, you can implement strategies to avoid binging.
Alternate alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic drinks, say no to activities that encourage excessive drinking (like drinking games), and consider setting a specific limit on the number of drinks you’ll have during any single occasion.
Prevent Alcohol Addiction by Avoiding Bars
Bars are a popular place to socialize with friends, families, and colleagues. But it’s tough to avoid drinking when you’re in an environment dedicated to alcohol.
Even if you can order non-alcoholic drinks, spending time in bars increases the temptation to drink. If you are concerned about developing a problem with alcohol, suggest alternate activities when friends and other people want to socialize.
Peers influence drinking behavior for people of all ages. Spending time with heavy social drinkers makes it more difficult to prevent alcoholism.
COVID-19 Doesn’t Have to Stop You From Getting Help
Rehab facilities are open and accepting new patients
Preventing Alcohol Addiction in Young Adults
Underage drinking is a serious problem. It not only affects a young person’s short- and long-term health, it also increases the risk that a person will develop an alcohol use disorder. Teenage drinkers are more likely to binge drink and make bad choices when intoxicated, including driving under the influence and engaging in risky or violent behavior.
To reduce the likelihood that a young person you care about will drink alcohol, read the following tips:
Encourage teens to feel confident about turning down alcohol
Speak openly and honestly about drinking, its risks, and what will happen in terms of discipline if a teen drinks
Be aware of your at-home supply of alcohol so you can tell if it’s secretly being consumed
Do not permit unchaperoned parties or imply it’s acceptable to consume alcohol at home
Encourage healthy relationships with peers who don’t drink
Set a good example with responsible alcohol consumption
Preventing Alcohol Addiction in Older People
Alcohol addiction can develop and be unhealthy and dangerous at any age. But just as younger people face more significant risk when consuming alcohol, so do adults over the age of 65. This is because the body processes alcohol differently as we age.
Alcohol remains in the body longer and creates a “buzz” or tipsy feeling faster than it does for middle-aged adults. Alcohol consumption also affects balance, which might already be a concern for an older adult.
To avoid developing an alcohol use disorder later in life:
Understand that health and well-being risk is higher than it was a few years ago
Know that drinking alcohol can exacerbate existing health problems, including those related to heart attack, stroke, balance, and memory loss
Realize that mixing alcohol with OTC, prescription medications, and “natural” remedies and supplements can be dangerous
Recognize common triggers that are likely as we age, such as the death of friends and loved ones, loneliness, and boredom
Regardless of your age or the age of loved ones, knowing the “red flags” that could indicate a problem with alcohol can go a long way in preventing someone from developing a full-blown addiction.
If you notice any of the following unhealthy drinking habits, it’s a good idea to seek help or speak to the person about your concerns:
Solitary alcohol consumption
Need to increase consumption to achieve the same effect
Neglect of personal hygiene
Poor appetite
Absenteeism from work or school
Angry responses when asked to discuss alcohol consumption
Alcohol Treatment Options
Addiction treatment is available for anyone suffering from substance abuse. Drinking problems can be addressed at a facility that offers health services for all substance use disorders or alcohol specifically.
https://www.graniterecoverycenters.com/
Written By Granite Recovery Centers
Although humans are naturally social, isolation can be thrust upon people for one reason or another. Over the last two years, the effects of COVID-19 have certainly shown us how great that negative impact can be. The unknowns of the disease made it incredibly difficult to stay connected, which was especially true for those in recovery for substance abuse.
Regardless of the current state of the world, it is nothing new that a preference for isolation is not the norm. Too much time alone can negatively affect those who have no choice but to deal with it. Read on to gain a better understanding of isolation and its effects on mental health.
Why Does Isolation Happen?
Isolation has a variety of causes. It’s estimated that three out of five Americans deal with loneliness. Some health care professionals have called this an epidemic, and it’s something to pay attention to because it can affect people in negative ways.
It might seem strange that there are lonely people in one of the world’s most populated countries. The United States may have many people, yet most of them don’t know each other. You can probably relate to sitting in a group of people and not knowing a single thing about any of them. That’s something a lot of Americans experience.
You can find this phenomenon in nearly any setting, be it college or the workplace. Many people just keep to themselves and choose not to bother others. The truth is that striking up a conversation to create a friendship is hard for people.
For the most part, the friends you make when you were young are the friends you keep for life. The problem is that life happens. People get married, have children, and move away, and all these changes break friends apart. They might still talk to each other here and there, but they don’t hang out like they used to.
You might think loneliness goes away when you find a partner, but that doesn’t happen for everyone. Not everyone ends up with someone to love and have children with. Finding the right person isn’t so easy. While movies and TV shows popularize the romantic idea that there’s someone for everyone, it’s becoming more common for people to live on their own.
Most of the isolation people experience stems from these two realities. Americans and people in general don’t connect that easily, and life can put you in a situation where you know no one. As bad as it might sound, a lot of people go to work, return to an empty home, and perpetuate that cycle. Maybe some of them go outside to exchange a few pleasantries with neighbors, but their acquaintance stops there. These folks might spend most of their time and holidays alone, and that affects people in more ways than some might imagine. As you can see, isolation happens for various reasons. Pandemics have caused people to become even more isolated from others.
How Does Isolation Affect People?
Isolation is not natural to human beings, and it can lead to many problems. Some people may be more comfortable alone, but it’s not the norm. One of the most alarming findings is that isolation can lead to substance use disorder. People alone are more susceptible to smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, and using scarier drugs like heroin or cocaine.
Granite Recovery Centers knows about this because we’ve seen it here. Through our treatment programs, we discovered that people can develop a substance use disorder because of loneliness. It may seem like a harmless state of being, but it can start to eat at you. Things can get even worse if a person has recently gotten sober.
This concept is already out there in popular culture and as seen in Hollywood. You can see how isolation can lead a person to use alcohol or some other kind of drug. For example, “The Shining,” which is one of the most haunting horror movies ever made, focused on a family man who was an alcoholic just getting sober. It seemed like he was recovering, but isolation hindered his fight against his substance use disorder. Of course, this was a horror movie, so it took major liberties. There were ghosts involved and much more, but the idea that isolation caused the man to fall back into his substance use disorder is there.
The reason that isolation affects your mental health varies from person to person, but it could include some of the following:
Feeling pressure from parents to find a spouse but failing to do so
Social and traditional pressures to find someone, such as feeling societal expectations or buying into scenarios you see in the media you consume
The feeling that no one is there to listen to you and talk to you, which can lead to depression or anger
Judging and blaming yourself for the loneliness you feel, which can lead to self-hatred
It’s easy to see why some people turn to drugs. All these emotions are hard to bear, especially if your loneliness lasts for years or even decades. Drugs provide an escape. They provide a distraction that allows you to forget how lonely you’re feeling. We understand that this can happen to people.
Loneliness can feel like a bitter void you’ve fallen into and you can’t escape, and any rational person will try to escape this void. The regrettable part is that drugs can lead to substance use disorder. But don’t worry — our team is here to help when you need us. Our team cares, and they’re trained to provide evidence-based treatment programs to help you get control of your life.
Isolation doesn’t only make some people more susceptible to a substance use disorder. It could also lead to obesity as people may eat more or eat the wrong things when they’re bored. It may even turn to food addiction. Of course, you can see how obesity might follow that, adding health risks like heart disease or diabetes.
Being alone also hurts a person’s mental health in other ways. Family, friends, and companions are there to support you, to help you see your mistakes, help you learn, encourage you, or enlighten you somehow. These people can bring you happiness. You miss these connections when you’re alone, which can affect your mental state. If you’re lonely, you could feel depressed because of this and develop unhealthy habits since there’s no one there to check on you.
One habit that loneliness can lead to is online addiction or even a gaming addiction. But the digital world can also be a good thing. It depends on how it’s used. The internet has been able to connect people even if they aren’t in the same state. The connections could be genuine or not. When they are genuine, lonely people become a little less lonely. People can make friends when it is impossible to socialize in any other way. Some people have even met significant others through dating sites, chat rooms, social media platforms, or games.
People who have trouble connecting in real life may find it easier to do so online. Maybe the ability to talk without the pressure of saying the right thing or looking a certain way helps people connect online. Many real relationships are born online these days.
Some say these relationships are pretty strong because the people involved met online first. The potential partners have to talk to each other before they meet in person. People share secrets, connections are fortified, and it’s all made possible because the person is talking through a screen. After trust is built and the people meet in person, things seem much easier. This is not to say that there isn’t a dark side to this tale. Some people develop an unhealthy dependency on online connections. Some people never make the effort to meaningfully connect with people. Instead, they just meet as many people as possible without forming anything special. This could make it hard for a person to feel less lonely even when they’re online, which leads them back to the problem of loneliness.
Addressing Isolation Effectively
The truth is that isolation can’t be solved without taking steps to solve it. The good news is that there is something you can do.
We encourage you to help others who are lonely. As you can see, isolation can be harmful to your mental state or the mental state of someone you know. We’ve personally seen the dangers of loneliness, and we want to help. The better we address loneliness, the more effective we’ll be at curbing substance use disorders.
The first thing you need to recognize is that connecting with others is difficult to do when you’re out and about. You can’t just go up to someone and create a friendship. You can try, but it may not work. This isn’t to say that this strategy hasn’t worked for someone out there, but it is a hard way to get acquainted. People don’t expect to make connections in their local grocery store. You have to recognize there are places where people are more open to meeting new people and other places where they’re not.
You may be thinking of a party or something like that, and while people that attend parties want to meet others, it’s not usually for a lasting relationship. Plus, you only have a little time to spend with the people you meet at parties, making it hard to form anything meaningful. The truth is that you need a place where you can spend days, weeks, or years with the people you meet.
Some common places where people are willing to make friends are your local community center and church. The people there are typically happy to meet others and make a connection. What’s more is that the people who frequent these places come all the time, and that allows you to see them often. You need time because if you want a long-lasting relationship, you have to get to know another person for a while.
Another place where people are willing to open up is in school or college. Maybe all you need to do is take a few classes every year to give yourself a chance to meet someone new. This new person might be in one of your classes, or maybe you’ll meet them during lunch. Since you and the person you meet will be in school for some time, you should have enough time to see if you click with this new person.
When you find people you click with, you have to take things to the next level. This means meeting for an outing. It doesn’t have to be a romantic connection; it could just be a connection between two friends. What you have to keep in mind is that the people you’re meeting might be as lonely as you are, so they’re looking for connections, too.
Yes, it’s going to be strange to make connections at first, and sometimes, it might not work. Making friends is hard for you and every other adult out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. All you have to do is keep trying to meet others.
If isolation has already done a number on you, then it’s important to seek help. If, for example, it’s caused you to develop a substance use disorder, then we’re here to help you at Granite Recovery Centers. You can overcome the negative outcomes associated with loneliness because you can combat this unpleasant feeling with a little effort.