With the opioid crisis still going strong, there’s a danger of problem drinking getting short shrift. If you’re the one who’s desperately trying to stay sober, or if you’re the one in four who has been personally touched by alcohol use disorder in your family, you know that we need to keep it in the public eye. It’s that important. To give people hope for recovery, and for funding for treatment and for research, and to educate people, to name a few reasons. Time Goes By is one of the many personal blogs that touches on drinking to excess. In one post, on Elders and Alcohol, the writer recalls growing up in the fifties when alcohol was such a big part of many people’s lives, and a more accepted part. The woman’s father had taught her to make all the popular drinks by the time she was 10, which would be unheard of today. In later years, she realized that her mother was a functional alcoholic who kept it in check at her day job, but made up for it evenings and weekends. She didn’t inherit the gene, the writer says, and doesn’t have a problem with alcohol.
Alcohol Addiction
A number of people felt the need to comment on the post. One believed there’s a similar emphasis on drinking today, as if it has never dissipated, from the media touting the latest craft beer to “paint and drink parties,” to people posting pictures of their drinks on social media. Others felt the need to testify about their personal experience, from abstaining to social drinking, to bringing one’s own beverages to events because the person was finally able to quit drinking and didn’t want to go back. The blog writer includes several excerpts from Medical News Today, a U.K. news site, about how moderate drinking is beneficial. She obviously hadn’t read the article that appeared before her post did—Federal Agency Courted Alcohol Industry to Fund Study on Benefits of Moderate Drinking. It concerns exactly what was spelled out in the headline. Not to cast aspersions on anyone or any study, but we need to research who is funding studies. The article revealed that some people involved “already believed that moderate alcohol is a good thing,” which is also not a good thing. Luckily, another article, which followed that one, reported that the N.I.H would be investigating outreach to alcohol companies, or examining whether health officials violated government policy by soliciting donations to fund the study of moderate drinking. And following that, another, international study, found that adults should average no more than one drink a day—that many countries’ guidelines are too lenient. Yet according to that blog writer quoting Medical News Today, various studies indicated that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption may lower the risk of stroke in women, and regular, moderate wine drinking might reduce the risk of developing depression, and moderate wine and beer consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular events.
Alcohol Recovery Center
With all the reports about alcohol, it can be hard to determine what’s true regarding the claims. However, no one can argue that if a person doesn’t stop drinking, alcohol use disorder is extremely dangerous. People in recovery occasionally mention not knowing what to say when people ask why they’re not drinking. A person who wrote into a social etiquette column said that one co-worker said he missed drinking with the person, and asked if he wouldn’t have just one drink with him. The writer said that his recovery group suggested he didn’t owe anyone any answers. The columnist responded in line with the group—the writer had no duty to explain himself, especially if he were new in recovery. His message was to focus on himself and not waste energy fending off pals. But the columnist suggested that as time goes on, saying something like “Drinking didn’t agree with me” to acquaintances is good, but to family and close friends, it’s OK to share more of his struggle, which might even give him more allies than just his support group. For more information on alcohol addiction or Summit Estate’s alcohol recovery centers please contact (866) 569-9391.
