The Dangers in Underestimating Alcohol Abuse

“Alcohol is the number 1 drug problem in the United States.”

Susan is a recovering alcoholic now in long-term recovery. Over the course of many years she was a self-described functioning alcoholic. While she never lost a job due to her drinking, her alcohol abuse took her down a path of many abusive drinking partners, two children in the midst of it all, and a total of 5 DWI’s; the last of which almost landed her in prison. It got to the point where Susan became scared for her life and knew she most do something or else she would suffer serious consequences.

However, if you were to go back to when she first started experimenting with alcohol and tell her she would end up struggling with alcoholism, in her own admission, she wouldn’t believe it. Though her mom had accused her of being an alcoholic at the time, Susan continued to underestimate her own alcohol abuse. It was only when she faced her struggle head-on and made the courageous decision to enter into addiction treatment that she was able to embark on her path to long-term recovery.

“International estimates suggest people can underestimate their alcohol intake by around 40 to 60%”

Surprisingly, Susan’s train of thought is not uncommon. A new study by the Department of Health in the United Kingdom has discovered that citizens who are drinking alcohol may in fact be wrong about how much they are consuming. The study revealed that a full 80 percent of those polled who were over-consuming alcohol were aware that drinking too much is risky, but fail to see themselves as heavy drinkers. Instead a majority of those polled classified themselves as moderate drinkers, and as such had no plan to cut back on their alcohol intake.

These findings are extremely worrisome as over-consumption of alcohol carries serious health risks as well as a stepping stone to the perilous disease that is alcoholism. As it is a progressive disease, as an individual’s alcoholism progresses and worsens it becomes increasingly difficult for the individual struggling to accept the fact that they need help combating this vicious disease. Additionally, alcoholism and alcohol abuse can cause many serious physical and social side-effects for an individual such as, but not limited to:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Peripheral arterial disease
• Heart attack or stroke
• Dementia
• Liver disease
• Pancreatitis
• Sexual dysfunction
• Kidney stones
• Cancer
• Death

Alcoholism is a dangerous disease and under-estimating one’s alcohol use can have hazardous and potentially lethal consequences. If you or someone you love is drinking too much let us help. Together we can help put your or your loved one back on a road to long-term recovery and a new healthy life.