Alcohol Help

There are 8.3 million children in the United States who are living with a substance abusing parent. Of those children 7.3 million live with a parent who is addicted to alcohol and 2.1 million live with a parent who is addicted to illicit drugs. What is being done to protect these children from following in the same footsteps as their drug and alcohol abusing parents? What is being done to help these parents get the help they need to make a full recovery from their addictions so that they can be good role modules for their children? These two questions are asked everyday.

Finding an addict a drug and alcohol rehab that they can get into that will help them fully recover from their addiction can be a challenge. A lot of the time when children are involved it is hard for single parents especially to commit to long term programs. Once they do they begin to realize that taking the time to make positive changes in their lives will also be positive for their children in the long run. It is better to be away from your child getting treatment than it is to allow your child to watch your addiction destroy your entire life.

Children’s lives are ruined everyday in this country due to addiction. Living with an addicted parent puts a child in a position of seeing things that they should not see, it also sets the pace or tone for the child’s life style. What can we as a community do to help these children see that a life of addiction is not the road to follow? Narconon Arrowhead has been delivering drug education lectures to children across the nation since 2001 to educate them on the dangers of drugs and alcohol abuse. Educating children about drugs and alcohol at an early age can help them to make smarter decisions in their future because they know the truth.

Getting help for parents who are addicted will not only save the parent but it will save the child from a life time of struggling with their parent’s addiction or becoming addicted themselves. If you know someone who needs help with addiction the best thing you can do is confront them and get them in touch with a counselor who can lead them in the right direction. A good counselor who is knowledgeable about addiction and treatment can help place you or your loved one into a drug and alcohol rehab that will ensure full recovery from drug and alcohol for a life time.

Narconon Arrowhead Narconon’s premier facility located in Oklahoma on beautiful Lake Eufaula is one of the largest drug and alcohol rehabs in the world. We are dedicated to helping families overcome addiction so that they can lead happy, healthy, productive lives together and focus on a bright future full of promise and hope. Living a drug free life is much better than the alternative of being trapped in the endless cycle of addiction. Once an addict gets through to the other side and can see clearly, they understand just how great life really is when you are living drug free.

Narconon Arrowhead

For many Australians, drinking is an essential part of a night out with friends. Alcohol is widely considered to be a social lubricant, so it’s not surprising that social phobia, or extreme shyness, and drinking, frequently go together.
Photo by Karen DavisMore concerning are reports of increased alcohol problems among socially anxious people. Research studies tell us that people who suffer from social phobia are 2-3 times more likely to develop problems with alcohol abuse and/or alcohol dependence.

Yet historically, alcohol dependency and social anxiety have been treated as separate problems. Now, with greater understanding about how the two interact, researchers from Macquarie University’s Centre for Emotional Health have developed a new treatment for adults that addresses both problems together.

Dr Lexine Stapinski, from the University’s Centre for Emotional Health who is coordinating the new program, said many people mistakenly believe that alcohol relaxes them when in fact, excessive drinking actually increases agitation and anxiety.

“Alcohol use and social anxiety tend to feed each other in a vicious cycle,” she said.

“Shy people believe alcohol helps them to steady their nerves and feel more confident, but this can lead to a reliance on alcohol and ultimately a range of additional physical, social and emotional problems.”

Stapinski notes that 10.6 per cent of Australians have problems with social phobia while 18.9 per cent of the population drink alcohol at harmful levels, according to the most recent ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Now with changes to recommended drinking levels set in the 2009 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines at no more than two drinks per day, the number of those considered to be drinking at harmful levels will increase.

The new program developed by researchers at Macquarie offers participants 10 individual cognitive behavioural therapy sessions at no cost. Medication is also offered as an option. Treatment sessions are conducted with experienced clinical psychologists and are based on the most up-to-date research findings and knowledge of social anxiety and alcohol dependence.

Macquarie University

Interventions and Alcohol Treatment

Unfortunately, the nature of alcoholism is such that the disease often prevents alcoholics from recognizing their drinking problems as they actually are. With that in mind, we should note here that interventions are often vital precursors to the alcohol treatment process, especially insofar as they help an alcoholic see the true extent of his alcohol addiction and encourage him to admit himself to an alcohol rehab program.

Alcohol addiction is an overwhelming disease: It impacts every ounce of its victims’ beings, and leaves alcoholics incapable of finding meaning in anything except their need to drink. It should perhaps go without saying, then, that chronic alcoholics are especially ill-suited to conducting any kind of objective or rational self-analysis, and that most chronic drinkers aren’t aware of their problems until it’s already too late to do anything about them. Put simply, few alcoholics ever decide to enter an alcohol rehab center of their own accord. That’s not how addiction works, and that’s not how healing happens.

Instead, an alcoholic’s decision to check into an alcohol rehab center is more often than not the product of an intervention. Interventions work by confronting alcoholics with the fact of their addictions, and encouraging them to seek the help they need to get better. As a measure of last resort, an intervention often constitutes a chronic drinker’s last best shot at alcoholic recovery; the people who need luxury alcohol rehabs the most are typically the ones who are least aware of it.

A word on interventions themselves, and on what makes an intervention successful: Interventions, in the end, only work if they’re conducted in a spirit of warmth and support. Remember, it is not the goal of an intervention to shame an alcoholic for his drinking, or take him to task for the pain he’s caused. On the contrary, an intervention does and must concern itself with recovery, and healing, and convincing an addict to seek professional alcohol treatment at a professional alcohol rehab center. If someone you care about needs the kind of help that only an alcohol rehab center can deliver, you can’t afford to provide anything less than the most compassionate encouragement.

Alcohol Detox

Alcoholism grows out of physiological abnormalities in the alcoholic’s brain. The physical dependence associated with alcohol addiction means that the first stage of sobriety can be a traumatic one for alcohol rehab patients, and only those alcoholics who receive expert care at a competent alcohol detox center can hope to meet the challenges of alcohol treatment with sound bodies and robust spirits.

Most Malibu alcohol recovery centers are equipped with their own special alcohol detox facilities. In fact, an alcohol rehab center which doesn’t provide for intensive detoxification care is hardly an alcohol rehab center at all…and certainly not the kind of alcohol rehab center to which you want to entrust your long-term health. Getting better, all told, means finding an alcohol rehab center that can serve you as you need to be served, and alcohol detox, to say the least, will and must be a vital part of your alcoholic recovery plan.

Remember that alcoholism is, in part, a physical disease. Chronic drinking is known to cause changes in an alcoholic’s neural metabolism, ultimately substituting alcohol and alcohol byproducts for natural biochemicals in the body’s "normal" systemic processes. In plain terms, that means that alcoholics literally need alcohol to survive, and that the early stages of sobriety can be physically traumatic for any alcohol treatment patient.

With that in mind, doctors and caregivers at alcohol detox facilities use advanced medical and physical therapy regimens to help alcohol rehab patients manage the symptoms and side effects of alcohol withdrawal. A patient’s time in alcohol detox, it’s important to note, can be hugely important in shaping the quality of his overall alcohol rehab center experience, especially insofar as alcohol detox sets a tone for everything that follows it. If you want to get better in a residential alcohol rehabilitation center, you’ve got to get off on the right foot, and you can’t start anywhere if you don’t start in an alcohol detox program.

Cliffside Malibu

Commenting on the news that the drinks industry is to launch a new responsible drinking campaign, Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said:

“The drinks industry has a very poor track record of adhering to Government agreements to raise alcohol awareness. Both in terms of previously agreed funding for the Drinkaware Trust and labelling of alcohol products, the drinks industry fell far short of intended targets.

This new initiative appears to be yet another example of the drinks industry trying desperately to avoid mandatory legislation to pass on health information to consumers.

Government would serve the interests of consumers better by legislating to ensure that alcohol retailers clearly display unit and health information on the risks of excessive drinking. What this initiative is offering consumers is a poor substitute.

Drinkers should all be able to make healthy informed choices about our drinking; we urge the government to use the powers it would gain through the new Mandatory Code on Alcohol Sales rather than once again rely on the promises of the drinks industry"

Alcohol Concern

Britain’s drinks industry today announces a £100 million social marketing campaign aimed at encouraging more responsible drinking among young adults and shifting attitudes towards drunkenness.

This initiative represents the largest ever media spend on responsible drinking messages. Developed by over 45 companies as the Campaign for Smarter Drinking, it is launched in partnership with independent charity Drinkaware and the Government and is intended to run for 5 years.

The campaign will use outdoor advertising, signs, drink mats in pubs and bars, on-pack and point of sale displays in retailers to deliver its message under the strapline “why let good times go bad?”

It is designed to maximise the potential offered by the direct relationship drinks brands have with consumers.The campaign will not talk down to young adults or tell them what to do, which has been shown not to work. Instead it will emphasise the benefits of responsible enjoyment and offer practical tips such as reminders to drink water or soft drinks, eat food and plan to get home safely.

By both asking questions and reminding consumers about the importance of making smart choices, this campaign aims to shift the culture around alcohol by targeting those who drink to excess without punishing the majority of responsible drinkers.

Jonathan Neame, Chief Executive, Shepherd-Neame and signatory of Campaign for Smarter Drinking, said:

“For years people have asked what needs to be done to encourage a responsible drinking culture in Britain and reduce alcohol misuse among young adults. This initiative is part of the answer and the drinks industry is in a unique position to help deliver such a shift in our culture. In the end, we can only achieve change if people take responsibility for their own behaviour and this campaign will help them make informed choices.”

Andy Burnham and Alan Johnson have confirmed they will support the Campaign for Smarter Drinking in its launch year, with further support conditional on the results of an independent audit of the campaign’s funding and effectiveness, as well as a review of future funding commitments from the industry for Drinkaware.

Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham said:

“While the vast majority of people who drink enjoy alcohol in moderation, we’re facing a growing public health problem where people are regularly drinking too much or are dependent on alcohol.

“Clearly the industry has a responsibility to play their part in tackling this problem and I hope this campaign will make a real difference to people’s attitudes to drunkenness and their drinking behaviour.”

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:

“We are determined to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder which costs the UK billions every year in police and hospital resources not to mention the effect it has on the lives of millions of decent people.

“Alcohol-related violent crime has fallen by a third since 1997, but no-one is suggesting the job is done and educating people about the dangers of binge drinking is a responsibility not just for the Government, but for us all. That is why I am pleased that the industry is making a commitment to do exactly that.

“This campaign will complement the wide range of actions we are already undertaking to address binge drinking, including giving police more tools and powers to tackle disruptive drinkers and consulting on new rules to ensure that businesses that sell alcohol are doing it responsibly.”

Drinkaware Chairman Derek Lewis says:

“We welcome industry’s increased participation in tackling irresponsible drinking. The impact of alcohol misuse is a blight on individuals, communities and society with the financial, social and health impacts affecting us all. Making sure young adults have the right information about the effect of alcohol misuse on their health and wellbeing is an essential part of tackling the problem. From September, Drinkaware will deliver the campaign to consumers, ensuring they have the facts they need to make informed choices about drinking. Changing behaviour starts with education – and society as a whole stands to gain.”

The campaign will launch the first set of advertisements nationwide later this year in bars, pubs, supermarkets and high street retailers.

The campaign is supported by a group of partners in the drinks industry including major producers, retailers, supermarkets and trade associations.

Drinkaware

The summer holidays are looming and young people across the UK are thinking of ways to keep entertained as they find themselves facing weeks away from school. Following new research which shows that 51%* of young people get bored in the summer holidays and that 29% often drink alcohol because they are bored, alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware has launched ‘The Ultimate Day’ competition, which will give five lucky teenagers – and up to three of their mates – the chance to win their dream day out.

Drinkaware has launched ‘The Ultimate Day’ to help combat boredom over the summer period by setting young people a challenge to creatively demonstrate how they would have fun without alcohol. ‘The Ultimate Day’ asks entrants to upload a video or image of themselves to www.theultimateday.co.uk, alongside an explanation of their ideal day for them and their mates.

Whether it’s living the life of a rock star for a day, having a celeb-style makeover and photoshoot, or starring in their own movie, it doesn’t matter – if the entry is persuasive enough, it stands a great chance of winning one of the five prizes to make it happen. The winning entries will be judged by a panel that includes an impartial young person who is under 18 and Drinkaware representatives. Along with the five main ‘Ultimate Day’ prizes, there are also weekly prizes up for grabs on the website such as go-karting, football stadium tours, and makeovers.

The competition is open to anyone aged 16-17 (however, the weekly prizes are also available to 13-15 year olds) and there are only three main rules: 1) The day has to be experience-based (so no unlimited shopping sprees!), 2) The day can’t contain anything illegal (so no alcohol!) and 3) It’s got to be all about having fun!
Entrants can upload their entry now at www.theultimateday.co.uk and from 30th July visitors to the site will be able to vote for their favourite entries. The top voted entries will then be judged by ‘The Ultimate Day’ panel, with the winners announced in September.

Chris Sorek CEO of Drinkaware said,

“Our research shows that seven out of 10** young people drink once a week or more, and these figures are likely to increase over the summer holidays when teens are looking for ways to keep entertained. The Ultimate Day not only sets young people a challenge over the summer, it also gets them thinking about how to have fun without alcohol. It’s a great way to engage with young people about their alcohol consumption and the effect that it can have on their health and wellbeing. We hope the competition really gets teenagers thinking creatively so that their ultimate day can become a reality.”

Ultimate Day entries can be uploaded at www.theultimateday.co.uk. The closing date for the competition is 31st August and terms and conditions will apply.

Drinkaware

Successful initiatives in the fight against underage sales of alcohol have been highlighted in a new study by the public body for better local regulation, LBRO, as part of a drive to help local councils and police forces keep alcohol out of the hands of the under 18’s.

LBRO is now urging others to adopt the best practice undertaken by local authorities and police forces in small cities and towns across the UK.

The study into reducing underage sales has recognised how skilled young people are at finding new ways to get hold of alcohol and the need for authorities to always stay one step ahead.

Other key themes include the importance of partnership working between the relevant organisations – engaging businesses who see themselves as part of the community and want to be part of the solution.

Lancashire County Council recognised that around half of the districts within the county were worse than the national average for health issues linked to alcohol. Lancashire looked to educating retailers and the general population with various initiatives including consulting with over 2000 young people to inform them of their alcohol awareness campaigns. In a successful project considered effective by 80 per cent of local licensees, Lancashire is targeting those who buy alcohol and pass it on to underage young people through their Campaign Against Proxy Sales (CAPS).

Brighton and Hove is an area with a thriving night-time economy and a high concentration of licensed premises. It has a high youth population and has suffered from problems such as street drinking and alcohol misuse. The city council has set out to change the culture of the night-time economy by encouraging activities where alcohol is not central to the event. Their focus has been around business support with 84 per cent of licensees stating it as an effective method. Trading Standards offer advice and support to licensees through Business Support Visits, helping them consider the location of alcohol in the premises, building up staff confidence to challenge and refuse sales and generally raising awareness of underage issues.

LBRO is now keen to work with councils and police forces on identifying the initiatives that work best.

LBRO Chair Clive Grace said:

“According to a recent TSI survey over a quarter of 14 to 17 year olds are able to purchase alcohol for themselves. Initiatives such as the ones identified in the study can lead to a reduction in anti-social behaviour and can make communities better places to live particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings. This is why LBRO is keen to take its work forward with local authorities to find the best ways to reduce the problem.”

According to the Department for Children, Schools and Families the number of alcohol units consumed by 11 – 15 year olds has doubled between 1990 and 2000 and has remained at the same level since. Alcohol misuse costs the health service around £2.7 billion per year as well as imposing wider costs on society such as crime and disorder, social and family breakdown and sickness absence.

Local Better Regulation Office

People drink more in the summertime than they do at any other time of the year, according to new research by alcohol charity Drinkaware*. Encouraged by more opportunities to socialise outdoors and the seasonal increase in festivals and sporting events, one in four UK adults (24%) say they drink more during the summer, with only 10% naming wintertime as the season they consume the largest amount of alcohol.

The results of the survey are released alongside the launch of the Drinkaware summer awareness campaign for adults. ‘Drink Less, Miss Less’ is aimed at encouraging people to think about their summer drinking and the effect it has on their health and wellbeing. A series of ambassadors have signed up to support the campaign, the first being England cricketer Jimmy Anderson, who stars in a light-hearted video, encouraging people to regulate their summer drinking.

The research for the campaign also indicates that nearly one in two adults (49%) have missed key events in their lives after being ‘caught short’ due to drinking and therefore needing to go to the toilet. This is alongside the finding that six out of 10 adults (62%) don’t understand that alcohol is a diuretic and the body produces more urine from drinking alcohol than the same amount of water or soft drinks. The results also reveal that nearly one in five (18%) never keep track of their alcohol consumption.

Chris Sorek, CEO of Drinkaware, says: “The summer is a time to have fun and relax, but it’s really important that we all think about how much we’re drinking and the effect it can have on our health and wellbeing.

“Many people are unaware that alcohol makes you pee more that water or soft drinks, but there are other, more serious health implications of drinking to excess or too often. The Drink Less, Miss Less campaign uses a light-hearted approach to encourage adults to keep track of their drinking and to think about its effects – going to the toilet being only one of them!”

The Drink Less, Miss Less film with Anderson, released today, features him running in to bowl in a crucial match and bowling the batsman out LBW. Unfortunately for Anderson, his big moment is ruined by the umpire, who had been sneaking a drink and is unable to control himself any longer…the full film can be viewed at www.drinkaware.co.uk/missless. The film with Anderson is the first in a series of films featuring a range of celebrities to be released during the coming months.

Although handled in a tongue-in-cheek way, the aim of video is to inform adults that alcohol is a diuretic and drinking results in more fluid being peed out than is taken in. Alcohol affects the body’s production of the antiduretic hormone vasapressin that usually tells the kidneys to reabsorb water that would otherwise end up in the bladder**. Without this hormonal signal, the bladder fills up with all the water from the fluid that is drunk and more trips to the toilet become necessary. The resulting dehydration is also responsible for hangovers and can become a serious risk, particularly during hot weather.

To see the Jimmy Anderson film, viewers can go to www.drinkaware.co.uk/missless, where they will also find more details on the campaign and the effect of alcohol on the body, behind-the-scenes exclusives, summer drinking tips and a guide to the Ashes.

Drinkaware