The alcohol abuse and alcoholism research literature demonstrates the fact that there are numerous adverse alcohol effects when people engage in alcohol dependency or long-term alcohol abuse.  For example, the following represents a short list of some of the negative outcomes of chronic alcoholism:  an increase in failed promises and resolutions to one’s self and to others, the loss of control once a person takes his or her next drink, persistent remorse, an obsession with drinking, impaired thinking, and dysfunctional relationships.

This list, moreover, does not discuss the host of medical issues and problems that are linked to alcoholism.  The message should be obvious to anyone who cares about his or her finances, employment, relationships, and health:  if you cannot drink in moderation, then don’t drink at all.

Several key issues led to Danny’s drinking.  At first, having a few beers every night helped him cope with his physical pain, helped him relax, and helped him fall asleep more easily.  Due to the fact that having a few drinks was “working” for him, why change?

One of the problems with abusive drinking is that even if an individual does not change his or her drinking behavior, significant changes, nonetheless, are taking place within his or her body and within his or her brain that will eventually change the individual’s life for the worse.

The type of change I am discussing is the transition that takes place when an individual moves from alcohol abuse to alcoholism.  And once this transition takes place, quitting drinking abruptly leads to painful and unpleasant alcohol withdrawal symptoms that never would have taken place if the individual was not addicted to alcohol. The solution: get alcohol treatment before you become alcohol dependent.

I recently went on the Internet and read about some of the negative alcohol effects that are associated long-term, chronic alcoholism.  After reading the information I found online, I began to question why any sane person would continue to get intoxicated repeatedly over time.  For the sake of making a point, I decided to undertake a small “experiment.”

Let us find 100 alcohol dependent persons, tell them we are going to ask them a few questions, and then inform them that we will pay them $100 for every question they answer correctly.  Here’s the first question:  When people receive their paychecks from work, does it make sense to buy groceries and pay one’s bills before going out to party or should an individual party first and worry about paying the bills later?  The second question:  If you knew that involving yourself in a particular activity would shorten your life by up to 15 years or more, would you engage in this activity?

My guess is that virtually all 100 alcoholics in this “experiment” would know the correct answer to both of these questions, yet, unfortunately, they cannot or will not apply this knowledge to their daily lives.

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How do people know if they are alcohol dependent?  Is it when they start to cause problems in their families due to their drinking or is it when they have to have a drink every day?  Are people addicted to alcohol when they find themselves drinking when they are alone or is it when they suffer alcohol withdrawal symptoms after they quit drinking?

My guess is that people are alcohol dependent when they experience all of the above situations.  And if someone concludes that he or she is an alcoholic, then he or she needs to realize the importance of getting alcoholism treatment so that he or she can start on the road to recovery.

The alcohol abuse and alcoholism research literature reveals that there are numerous adverse alcohol outcomes when individuals involve themselves in long-term alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency.

For example, the following represents a short list of some of the effects of chronic alcoholism:  persistent remorse; the loss of control once an individual starts to drink; broken, dysfunctional homes; an increase in failed promises and resolutions to one’s self and to others; an obsession with drinking; and impaired thinking.

Unfortunately, this list has not even mentioned the host of health issues and medical problems and that are linked to alcoholism.  As a consequence of all of these drinking problems, the message should be clear to anyone who cares about his or her relationships, employment, health, and finances:  if you cannot drink responsibly and in moderation, then don’t drink at all.

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Research shows that abusive and excessive drinking over an extended period of time can lead to a number of alcohol related problems including life-threatening liver ailments, vitamin deficiency, heart disease, infertility, stomach ulcers, and pancreatitis.

In addition to the long-term health problems that are associated with excessive and abusive drinking, however, the repeated abuse of alcohol can eventually lead to alcohol dependency.  Unfortunately, alcoholism has its own set of serious drinking problems that further compromise the problem drinker’s health.

Both medical and alcohol dependency researchers have found that people who drink repeatedly and abusively for several years often develop serious alcohol-related medical problems such as depression, peptic ulcers, and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as other alcohol related problems such as DUIs, broken relationships, financial difficulties, and school and employment performance issues.

Research shows that there are millions of “problem drinkers” in the U.S. who are not alcohol dependent but who involve themselves in excessive and abusive drinking behavior.

Due to the fact that many, if not most drinkers do not get the alcohol treatment they need, this statistic can mean many things but to me one of the things it probably means is that there are millions of Americans who are in need of alcohol abuse treatment.

How much are drinking problems such as alcohol abuse a function of poor problem solving and a lack of willpower?  Before a person becomes alcohol dependent, he or she has certainly engaged in abusive and excessive drinking for a certain period of time.  And before a person becomes alcohol dependent he or she has a tremendous degree of responsibility regarding the amount and frequency of drinking in which he or she involves himself or herself.

The point:  If a person who is an alcohol abuser but not yet an alcoholic had better problem solving and coping skills and more willpower, he or she might not so easily resort to drinking to reduce his or her suffering and pain or to solve his or her problems.  In short, it seems that there is an inverse relationship between drinking and willpower and problem solving skills BEFORE a person becomes alcohol dependent:  the more a non-alcoholic person abuses alcohol, the less willpower and the poorer the problem solving and coping skills he or she possesses.

Various research studies reveal evidence that there could be as many as four million alcoholics in the U.S. who are less than 18 years old. For those of you who are paying attention, the “oldest” adolescents in this group are at three years younger than the legal drinking age of 21.

Take a moment to think about this: there may be 4 million U.S. youth who involve themselves in underage alcohol addiction. Obviously, the term “teenage alcoholism” does not apply to everyone in this “group” because some of the alcohol-addicted children are not even teenagers!

Statistics and facts like these should serve as a wake-up call for all political leaders, parents, social service administrators, educators, and community leaders in this country. With much of the nightly news centered on Obama’s health initiative, terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, possible increasing gas and oil prices, and the unstable economy, the topic of underage alcoholics seems to have been placed on the last page in the newspaper or on the back burner by the media. Teenage and pre-teen drug addiction and alcoholism are two critical problems that need to be addressed immediately by local and national political leaders, parents, school administrators, and social service agencies.

Based on the alcoholism research to which I have been exposed, the addiction problems and issues I have studied, and the alcoholics information I have researched, dealing with alcohol dependency is, in many respects, like dealing with terminal AIDS:  the prevention of the disease is so much more feasible, not nearly as overwhelming, and is so much more reasonable than getting the disease and wondering what to do next.

Support groups, training, treatment, education, and doctor prescribed medications can help an alcoholic stay sober during recovery.  Without a doubt, it can be very depressing to relapse and begin drinking again.  Even though the alcohol dependent person may feel guilty about relapsing, however, it is important to note that most alcoholics who achieve long-lasting recovery will relapse at least once after treatment.

In short, while an alcoholic should do everything he or she can to avoid a relapse, falling “off the wagon” is not a good reason to quit treatment or the recovery process.  In sum, getting sober and staying sober is a lifelong process.

It is clear that vast numbers of people do not realize that alcohol is a drug and that alcohol dependency is a form of drug addiction.  The upshot of this is that just about all of the important information about drug addiction applies in some way to alcohol addiction.  As an illustration, this means that like other addicts, alcoholics experience a need to take increasing amounts of the drug (alcohol) in order to feel the “high” or the “buzz” they seek, they experience withdrawal symptoms when they suddenly stop taking the drug, they crave their drug of their choice, and they manifest out-of-control behavior.

In short, similar to the vast majority of addicts, alcohol dependent individuals need professional treatment if they are to stop their addiction, get sober, and begin their journey on the path to recovery.

I have mentioned numerous times how important I think it is for problem drinkers to get alcohol treatment BEFORE they become alcohol dependent.  The point: why wait to get alcohol treatment until your health deteriorates, your finances are critically depleted, your significant relationships are crumbling, or your job is lost?

In a similar manner, why wait until your critical thinking skills are considerably diminished or when you are suffering from malnutrition because your excessive and hazardous drinking has started your body systems and organs to malfunction?  So if you have ANY problems in life that are alcohol related, please do yourself and your loved ones a “favor’ and get the alcohol treatment you need before these problems become considerably worse.

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I have heard that there are some underage drinkers in the United States as well as in other developed nations who have not reached their 10th birthday who are not only abusing alcohol but who are also alcohol dependent.  This is absolutely appalling.  Are these children living the streets?  If not, where are their parents?  Who is paying for their alcohol?  Who is supplying their alcohol?  If these children go to school, how do they avoid detection by teachers, counselors, or other students?

I just talked to my cousin David who is a jazz pianist.  He was telling me about an excellent horn player who was an alcoholic and who started paying the other band members with checks that bounced.  What a surprise.  This is exactly why people who abuse alcohol and who are not yet alcohol dependent need to get alcohol treatment.

When a person becomes an alcoholic, the main mission this person has is to somehow, someway, avoid the alcohol withdrawal symptoms that will surely take place if he or she stops drinking. And if this means writing bogus checks to the people in your band so that you can pay for your drinking habit, then this is exactly what will take place.  The point: if you drink heavily and are not yet an alcoholic, please get the alcohol treatment you need before you become alcohol dependent.

Please call the following toll-free number if you have questions about alcohol abuse, alcoholism, or an alcohol problem or if you want some information about top-of-the-line alcohol treatment.  (888) 565-2282

What a waste it is to involve yourself in chronic alcohol abuse or alcoholism.  Not only does excessive and hazardous drinking deplete a person’s finances, but it wrecks havoc with relationships, it leads to poor work and school performance, it often results in problems with the law (a DUI for instance), and it leads to poor health.  There is absolutely no positive reason for excessive and abusive drinking.  For this reason, if you abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent, please get the professional alcohol treatment you need.

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I recall reading about alcohol abuse among teenagers and discovering that millions of teenagers in the United States involve themselves in alcohol abuse.  When taking a moment to think about this, this information is appalling.  How can it be that so many teenagers in the United States (and in most of the industrialized nations) drink in an abusive and excessive manner?  How are our educational institutions addressing this problem?  What are the parents of these teenagers doing about this problem?  Keep this is mind:  the more teenagers in our country who abuse alcohol the more adults there will be who not only abuse alcohol but who become dependent on alcohol.

Alcoholism is a very hard disease from which to recover and it almost always requires treatment from professionals trained in alcohol dependency.  While some alcohol addicted individuals attempt to quit drinking on their own, try to go through the detox process at home, and try to get through the alcohol withdrawal symptoms at home, most of these alcoholics will be unsuccessful.  Serious diseases call for serious treatment and the best treatment for alcohol dependency is provided by professionals who are experts in the field of alcoholism.

Alcohol dependency and medical research shows that approximately 95% of the alcoholics in the U.S. lose their lives from their addiction.  Not only this, but alcohol dependent individuals on average will die roughly 15 years earlier than people who are not alcohol dependent.

Though these findings will probably not make a great “impression” on most alcoholics, this knowledge is significant and needs to be taught to all students, from the elementary school level through and including college.  Stated another way, statistics and facts like these have to be viewed from a common sense and logical perspective—something that most alcoholics, unlike most students, do not possess.