Alcohol Awareness Month

Alcohol is all around us. We know everything about it, right?

Although it sometimes seems that alcohol is everywhere, we might not know a lot about it. Or, what we think we know might be wrong.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month and the month also contains National Alcohol Screening Day, times that can teach us about the substance and what it does.

Promoters of the month are particularly interested in stopping alcohol addiction in teenagers and young people, but problem drinking can affect anyone.

How can you gauge your drinking?

It can be difficult to determine how much you’re drinking. You might live with or spend time with others who drink and not think anything about alcohol because it’s such a common part of your lives. Or you might not realize how much you’re drinking until something bad happens.

To examine just how much you’re drinking, supporters of Alcohol Awareness Month encourage people to stop drinking alcohol for a weekend, from a Friday though a Sunday.

If you realize that you crave alcohol and are experiencing difficulties, you might have a problem with the substance and need addiction treatment assistance.

Don’t stop drinking alcohol abruptly if you know you’ve been drinking heavily for a long time.

Stopping all alcohol use at once is known as going cold turkey and it can be extremely dangerous. It can produce withdrawal symptoms that can be fatal.

What can you do about problem drinking?

If you’ve stopped drinking for a weekend and have realized that alcohol is playing a bigger role in your life that you want it to play, you have options:

• Inpatient alcohol treatment centers that require people to stay at designated facilities while they receive treatment.
• Outpatient treatment programs that require people to visit facilities to receive intensive treatment but let them return home afterward.
• Individual and group therapy options that allow people to explore the factors that trigger their alcohol addictions and how to avoid them.
• Support group meetings that allow people to meet with and learn from others who have had similar experiences with alcohol.

By searching the internet, you can also find other options that can help you better understand your alcohol drinking habits and develop ways to manage or quit them.

There’s nothing wrong with not knowing about alcohol or anything else. Choosing not to learn is the real mistake.

Sources

alcoholcampaign.org – 32nd Alcohol Awareness Month

sunshinebehavioralhealth.com – Dangers Associated with Quitting Alcohol Cold Turkey

sunshinebehavioralhealth.com – 12-Step Rehab Treatment | 12 Steps of Recovery