What Can You Do To Avoid Alcoholism?

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If you’ve seen the negative effects of alcoholism from someone you love, or if you’ve learned about the dangers of drinking alcohol from parents, work, or school, you know that consuming too much alcohol at any time is a bad idea. If you want to make sure that you can avoid alcoholism altogether, there are many things you can do to make sure that your life is both healthy and happy.

One of the first things you should do is to make sure that you are in an environment where alcohol is not a temptation on a regular basis. So keep alcohol out of your house and try not to go to any restaurants that are known for serving alcohol in a bar setting. Many people keep wine or liquor bottles in their homes as decoration, or even as a sign of social affluence, but if you know that you will be tempted to drink — especially if the alcohol is very accessible — make sure that your surroundings are alcohol-free.

It is also important to check your family history if you are trying to avoid alcoholism. While alcoholism is not exactly hereditary, there are certain traits that you may have inherited from parents, grandparents, or even aunts and uncles that can lead to alcoholism. If you know that some people in your family have had bouts with alcoholism, the chance of your dependency may be greater. Or if you’ve seen people in your home drinking on a regular basis, this may seem like normal behavior to you, which means you are more likely to make drinking a habit yourself. While family traits do have something to do with how alcohol will affect you, remember that everybody is different-while some people in your family do not seem sick, depressed, or overly angry when consuming alcohol, this doesn’t mean you will react the same way.

Next, you should figure out: what makes you want to drink? Do you feel glamorous or socially superior when you’re drinking? Do you think that alcohol makes you more outgoing than ususal? Do you drink to overcome bouts of depression or stress? Or do you just like the look of having a drink in your hand? Whatever the case, you should find out what void you are attempting to fill with alcohol. This way, you can use positive activities in place of alcohol to enrich your life. If you’re an entertainer, you can make non-alcoholic drinks at home with the same types of colors and decorations if you like the look of some alcoholic drinks. Also, planning more social gatherings to spend time with friends and meet new people will help you feel more confident about your social life without using alcohol.

Finally, the way to make sure that you stay away from alcohol and avoid drinking too much is to surround yourself with people who feel the same way. Support from friends and loved ones is essential as you make the effort to avoid alcoholism. You may also give someone else the courage to stay away from alcohol as well.

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How To Stop Drinking Alcohol – True Story

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My name is Don and I am an alcoholic. I was a functional Alcoholic they tell me. About 14 years ago the company I worked for, for 20 years, sold. As a result of that sale I took a 50 percent pay cut. What happened then was the need to tighten the belt. I could cut everywhere, except my bar tab.

I started drinking when I was 14 years old. I finished high school but didn’t graduate. At 18 I entered the United Armed Forces where I made rank in minimum time drinking a maximum amount of time. I never missed a formation; I always showed up for work on time.

I knew I was drinking too much even then. So when I got married I said I wouldn’t drink. That lasted until the first fight, maybe 30 days. From that time on I continued to drink from the time I got off work until I went to bed daily without fail.

I still worked in retail management running a grocery store.

During this time we lost our first house in a foreclosure. We had two beautiful children a boy and a girl. On more than one occasion I told myself I had a problem, but look, I had a good job that paid good money and I never drank before I went to work. I never drank on the job. The financial problems weren’t my fault it was the times.

As a result of the pay cut my world came falling down. I stopped drinking cold turkey, then one night on the way home I stopped at the local bar just to visit; I was entitled to it.

That started the last run. I was in a black out off and on for the next 90 days. The rent check bounced, I lost $1,000. I woke up and looked in the mirror and knew that it was life or death. I self admitted to treatment program On 15 Sept 1990.

By this time my daughter didn’t want anything to do with me, our son was on a run with his addiction, my wife wasn’t talking to me when we did talk it was a fight not a talk. Our home had become a total war zone. BUT I STILL HAD A JOB!

As I approach my 13th sobriety birthday we own a home free and clear we have two brand new cars and we did this making 25 percent less than I was making before. My daughter says, “Dad work your miracles.” Our son is in recovery. Our family can sit down at a dinner table and we don’t yell at each other.

The only major thing that has changed is that I got into recovery, got a sponsor, attend meetings, do my steps, and don’t drink no matter what! One day at a time. The Promises do come true. Stick around for the miracle.

How I Quit Drinking After 25 Years Of Alcoholism

Rational Recovery An Alternative To Alcoholics Anonymous?

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Rational recovery  offers an intelligent  alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and is also commonly known by the acronym “RR”, this type of recovery plan provides counseling, advice and managed therapies to accomplish recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. RR maintains that complete recovery can be made by abstinence.

Rational Recovery was founded by Jack Trimpey in 1986. Jack is a licensed clinical social worker who practices in California and an expert in treating  alcoholism and drug addiction.He is an authority on the subject as he was once an alcoholic himeself, but managed to overcome his addiction. Rational Recovery was born out of the experiences he had learning how to overcome his addiction.

Rational Recovery is a program which offers support through books, videos, lectures and over the Internet. It differs from AA as it is primarily a self-help program which is based on empowerment and the premise that the addicted person can seperate themselves psychologically from their addiction, which Jack refers to as the” beast”.
Rational Recovery accepts that the addict will want to continue with their addiction and that by getting to understand the nature of their addiction they can find coping strategies and the determination to beat their habit.

RR programs employ the following techniques to combat addiction:

A firm commitment to abstinence

Unquestionable self-acceptance

Rational Emotive Therapy or RET (a practical technique used to keep extreme emotions in check)

Addictive Voice Recognition Therapy (AVRT)

Each of these elements are important aspects of total self-recovery but AVRT

AVRT and RET are designed to work together to minimize the possibilty of a relapse, if you can believe that a lifetime of abstinence from your addiction could be possible then you may be interested in this program. Jack does also suggest  that once have overcome your addiction then the possibility exists that you may be able to control your behaviour and be able once agin to enjoy the substance which originally caused the problem. Why this method will fail for most people is that they feel the need to be a part of the herd for strength rather than relying on their own strength of character.

How I Beat  My 25 Year Addiction To Alcohol

Recovering Alcoholics Do Not Have to Go to AA

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What is an Alcoholic exactly? Someone who is addicted to the drug alcohol perhaps? One dictionary definition says that an alcoholic is a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually. Although this may well be true with some alcoholics, there are also alcoholic binge drinkers who can go days, weeks or even months without drinking anything at all. However, when these binge drinkers do go on a bender, their life spirals out of control for the duration of the spree.

There are also the so called ‘heavy drinkers’ who too consume alcohol to excess habitually, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are alcoholic. There’s also a myth that those who are alcoholic can only recover through the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. The fact is that not all alcoholics have found it necessary to go to AA in order to get well.

Getting back to the opening question, ‘What is an Alcoholic?’ here are some of the common characteristics of a serious alchie. Unlike heavy drinkers, who can often be well balanced people who just happen to drink too much, the alcoholic is indeed a different animal. Most active alcoholics are often riddled with self. That’s someone who’s a selfish, self seeking, self loathing egomaniac with an inferiority complex. If that description sounds pretty mixed up, that’s because it is! The alcoholic is someone who often feels victimized and at odds with the world. They are usually far removed from balanced thoughts and logic found in more well-adjusted folks.

Alcoholics also suffer enormously from resentments and tend to blame their woes onto other people. To sum up the above, a typical alcoholic is an unstable individual. Even so, they can and do recover from their malady if they own up to their problem and manage to put a plug in the jug. Contrary to popular beliefs, many recovering alcoholics do not have to go to AA in order to get well. There are indeed many other popular successful alternatives available in the twenty-first century for drunks seeking a solution to their problem with drink.

Alternatives to AA for Recovering Alcoholics

It’s somewhat of a erroneous belief to suggest that Alcoholics Anonymous is the one and only way for alcoholics or heavy drinkers to get over their addiction to booze. Although AA has unquestionably helped millions of drunks to sober up over the years, it has failed many, many more. AA can be a pretty poor fit for some folks which are why alternatives to AA have since been set up, each with their own success stories. Here are a few of the better known options:

Women for Sobriety Moderation Management Rational Recovery SMART Recovery Quitting without AA (Book)

There are also many other great books and publications, some old, some new, which an increasing number alcoholics, or borderline alcoholics, are finding a great help in achieving sobriety.

Why some Alcoholics can’t Relate to AA

One of the main reasons AA doesn’t work for many trying to recover from their addiction with alcohol is down to AA’s religious underpinning. It’s a program which tells the drunks they are totally useless, worthless individuals who stand little to no chance of recovery unless they hand their will and their life over to the care of God. It’s almost impossible to read a paragraph of AA approved literature which doesn’t have a mention of God in there somewhere. This holy rhetoric is a major turnoff for many trying to get a sober grip on their life. It certainly goes against the grain of atheists or agnostics.

Many in AA assume that those who don’t stick around their fellowship and practice their 12 step program of recovery are doomed to a life misery and premature death if they can’t accept the AA way of living. Although this will be true in some cases, the reality is that many actually go on to recover in other programs or on their own, especially those in middle age or older. The thought that it’s either AA or nothing is both na?ve and outdated. 1930′s AA has to be modified if their program is to have any appeal with the next generation of drunks.

Alcohol and Anxiety – Can Alcohol Help Anxiety?

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Social anxiety can be classified as getting extremely nervous or anxious around certain social situations. The situations that make a person nervous can be different for everyone. Males often times experience anxiety the most around women. For others it may be going to social events like dinner parties, the grocery store, or even a restaurant. A person with a social phobia may come off as completely normal, but inside they are feeling extremely uncomfortable, and want to get out of the situation as fast as possible.

Alcohol calms and relaxes you mind and body. Many people who suffer from this problem have come to realize that alcohol can have a positive effect on their anxiety. It also builds up a certain confidence, allowing you to forget about the fact that you would normally be nervous in a particular situation. Drinking alcohol on the weekends can allow people who suffer from anxiety to have a great time in these before “threatening” social situations. This means any blushing or anxiety will reduce severely, if not completely.

If you have Social Anxiety Disorder, then you may have a problem with blushing as well. When you are worried that people are judging you, or what they’re thinking about you, it can result in blood rushing to your face, causing it to turn red. As you can imagine this can be extremely embarrassing for anyone. Some people with this problem claim they’re not even a shy person. They want to go out, they want to meet new people, but they just can get over they’re problem, and would rather save themselves from the humiliation. So they sit at home on a Friday or Saturday feeling horrible and lonely.

Many people throw their money away on supplements or pills thinking it will miraculously eliminate this problem. While certain drugs such as GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) have helped some, the majority of people have been disappointed with the results. Magnesium is also believed to calm anxiety, and help with blushing. Everyone has different reactions to drugs, and for most, GABA and magnesium just have not done the job for people suffering from anxiety.

A much more effective way to get over your anxiety is attempting to change your thought process. Instead of thinking “Everyone’s watching me, what are they saying?”, have a much less negative attitude. Think “I’m just the same as everyone in this room, we’re all people.” This is hard at first, but there are programs out there that have changed lives dramatically. As well as a little alcohol here and there!

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Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Q & A – How Do I Convince Someone to Get Help?

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Just about everyone who abuses alcohol or drugs has heard about it from their family or friends who’ve tried to get them to drink less, quit drinking or drugs altogether, or get help in an alcohol rehab or drug addiction treatment center. Often, however, the advice, suggestions, pleas and demands fall on deaf ears. This is very frustrating for concerned parents and spouses who know the abuser is seriously in need of an alcohol or drug addiction treatment center. What causes this breakdown in communication? And is there anything you can do about it?

First of all, if you haven’t figured this out by now, no amount of talking – whispered or screamed, friendly or hostile – is going to get the person to stop even though the addict would usually like nothing better. But he just can’t do it. Addiction isn’t an incurable brain disease, as some would have you believe, but the horrible symptoms experienced when you need your next drink, pill or fix make it all but impossible to quit on your own. And these symptoms are very real, sometimes even medically dangerous.

Also, if the person quits drinking or taking drugs they will no longer have an escape from whatever drives them to alcohol or drugs in the first place.

Both the withdrawal symptoms and the reasons behind the addiction can be helped in a drug addiction treatment center; your goal is to get them there.

That said, here’s a few communication do’s and don’ts.

Don’t make them feel guilty. It won’t help. Chances are they already feel guiltier than you can imagine – despite what they say or do that makes you think otherwise. In fact, their guilt may be one of the reasons they continue.

Don’t talk to them about it when they’re drunk or high. Get them when they’re thinking straight.

Don’t get drawn into a screaming match or break down in tears. This can be hard. Someone who’s bent on defending their actions – especially when they know they’re wrong – can get very argumentative. Maintain your calm or the conversation will end without resolution.

Line up a drug addiction treatment center before you even have the conversation. Have it all arranged, no matter what it takes. You can always call an interventionist if your efforts fail, but having things lined up will enable you to get them there before they change their mind. And they will.

Once they agree to go to an alcohol rehab or drug addiction treatment center, take them there immediately. Day or night. It’s pretty much guaranteed that if you go along with waiting until tomorrow, tomorrow will never come. The person will have all kinds of reasons why they can’t go to a drug addiction treatment center right now. And you’ll be tempted to agree with them – they can’t just quit their job without notice, they have to take care of the bills, there’s no hurry because they said they’d do it and they will – you’ll hear all kinds of things.

What should your reaction be? Don’t fall for it, no matter how logical the reasons seem. It isn’t that the person isn’t trustworthy – they probably are, underneath it all. But as long as they’re going to need another drink, another fix, another pill, you can depend on whatever stellar personality traits they have going right out the window. The person is out of control.

When you arrive at the drug addiction treatment center you’ve chosen, you can make arrangements to handle the reasons the person said they couldn’t go. used as After they’re checked in, go through those details with them so you can handle any problems that may arise during their absence. You can tell the boss there’s an emergency family situation (which there is), handle the bank transfers, bills, and so, on yourself. Just get the information you need.

Last, but not least, realize they might be in the alcohol or drug addiction treatment center for a while. In fact, it could take months. Get help and support from friends and family, whatever you need to cope with it.

This may seem like a lot to handle but, really, consider the alternatives; if you don’t do it, things will get worse, not better. And you might even lose them altogether. A good, long-term residential alcohol rehab or drug addiction treatment center can handle their problem, but you have to get them there. Find the best treatment center you can right now, and get things rolling. Your life could be very different, very soon.

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Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms And Why You Need Medical Help

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Introduction

Most people who give up alcohol suddenly end up experiencing mild to moderate alcohol withdrawal symptoms as a result of the body reacting to the sudden withdrawal of something that it was used to or dependent on. The term alcohol withdrawal syndrome is used for describing the whole group of symptoms that occur as a result of sudden withdrawal from alcohol after a prolonged period of consumption.

Almost everybody who stops drinking after a long period of alcohol consumption or those who are heavy or frequent drinkers of alcohol will experience some or the entire varied group of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Types of Symptoms

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms range from the mild and the moderate to the extreme and the severe. Therefore, it is generally advised that you consult a medical practitioner before giving up alcohol all of a sudden. This is because while you might get away with just a few mild and easily controllable symptoms, you might also end up suffering from severe ones, and nobody can predict how exactly an individual’s body will react to sudden withdrawal.

In case you are planning to or have already given up alcohol, then you might find yourself experiencing some mild or moderate physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Some of the moderate physical symptoms are nausea, vomiting and headache, clammy or sweaty palms, a loss of appetite and sleep, palpitations or an increased heart rate, paleness, enlarged or dilated pupils, involuntary movement of the eyes and eyelids, shaking or shivering hands and excessive sweating.

Psychological Symptoms

Apart from these, a person giving up alcohol consumption also experiences a number of mild to moderate mental or psychological symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Some of the most common alcohol withdrawal symptoms in this regard are states of nervousness or anxiety, mood swings, irritability and emotional volatility, feelings of fatigue, shakiness, depression, an inability to think clearly and cohesively and a series of nightmares or bad dreams.

Most of the symptoms that are mentioned above can be easily treated with outpatient monitoring and medication. However, there are a number of severe withdrawal symptoms that require that the patient is admitted to a health facility and monitored and treated round the clock.

Some of the most common severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms are hallucinations, fevers, convulsions and constant agitation. A very severe symptom, known as delirium tremens is a state where a person keeps getting regular hallucinations and is in a confused state of mind. Some people also suffer from black outs, or periods of memory loss, where they are unable to recall about what happened during a certain period of time, especially when this relates to a drinking episode.

Most of the people suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms, especially mild and moderate ones can be treated as outpatients, but there is a small percentage of people, especially those who suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms, who need to be treated in special alcohol rehab centers or hospitals. This is because they would require round the clock observation and attention because of the severity of their symptoms.

Conclusion

In case you or someone else close to you is experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, then it is advised that you consult a medical practitioner as soon as possible. The practitioner will let you know about the severity of your symptoms, and treat you accordingly. Most probably, you can be treated with some prescribed medication that you can take on your own, but in case the symptoms are severe then you would need to be admitted to a medical facility for treatment. Most people turn back to alcohol because they cannot bear the withdrawal symptoms; therefore it is imperative that a patient takes medical help with respect to his or her withdrawal symptoms so as not to fall back into the abyss of alcoholism.

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Tips For Helping Someone With Alcoholism

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When a person is effected by alcoholism in their family they often want to find a way to help the alcoholic. There are some great tips for helping someone with alcoholism. Alcoholism effects everyone the alcoholic knows and for someone to offer the alcoholic help will benefit everyone in the end. It is important for people to understand, though, that alcoholism is hard to fight and it takes dedication, time and understanding to be successful.

The following is a list of tips for helping someone with alcoholism:

Keep focused on the task at hand. It can be frustrating but when the person helping the alcoholic shows frustration or anger the goal is lost. An alcoholic is more likely to listen and work with someone who isn’t judgmental or pushy. Maintain a normal environment. Trying to change everything about an alcoholics life will just cause them stress which triggers their alcoholism. It is important when helping that a person tries to keep things normal with the exception of eliminating alcohol. Find activities to replace the old alcohol-related ones. Since helping the alcoholic means taking alcohol out of their life it is important to eliminate activities where drinking is a part. For example, if the alcoholic went to the ball game every Saturday and drank while there, then that activity needs to be altered. It is often best to completely avoid the activity for a while until the alcoholic is further into recovery, so in the mean time the person helping could find a new Saturday past time. Don’t make excuses for the alcoholic. Part of getting over alcoholism is learning to deal with the problems it caused. If the person helping is taking responsibility or making excuses for the behavior of the alcoholic then they will never be able to completely recover.

These four tips cover only the beginning of what a person can do to help someone with alcoholism. Alcoholism is a hard disease to fight, but with help alcoholics have a better chance of winning that fight.

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How to Improve Your Mind and Body With Binaural Meditation

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The existence of binaural beats was discovered by a German scientist, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, in 1839. He found that by inputting two auditory tones of different frequencies into each ear, the brain would interpret this differential and adjust itself to that differential. When the auditory tones are designed for small frequency differentials, it became much easier to get brainwave activity into the lower meditative states of alpha and theta. This discovery has now been re-created as binaural meditation to enable almost anyone to have effective meditation sessions.

Meditation has become generally accepted as an effective preventive health program. Studies have shown that meditation can prove a wide range of health benefits.

The reason that meditation is effective is because you can achieve a state of deep relaxation in just a few minutes. When you are in a state of deep relaxation, the mind and body become refreshed and revitalized. The effects can be immediate and long term.

A regular routine of binaural meditation with a binaural beats download for about 10-20 minutes per day can have significant and noticeable benefits:

  • Increase in self-esteem
  • Improved creativity
  • Increase intelligence level
  • Reduced production of the stress hormone cortisol
  • Increased output of serotonin which improves mood and behavior
  • Can help in getting rid of addictions, including alcoholism and smoking
  • Develop a strong immune system
  • Lessen stress and anxiety attacks
  • Lower blood pressure

    • Effective meditation doesn’t have to be difficult to achieve when you use the aid of a binaural beats download. All it takes is to find a quiet and relaxed space and put on a set of headphones.

    There a lot of well-known meditation methods such as Zen, Transcendental, and Yoga, but they take time to learn and practice. Binaural meditation doesn’t have a lengthy learning period and is easy and convenient to use.

    Download Brain Entrainment Software Here

    Alcoholism Statistics You Should Know About!

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    Alcohol – A legal yet mind altering beverage both loved and loathed around all parts of the world. It’s permissible perhaps because it’s been with us ever since man first crushed grapes. Despite the societal and health disruptions it causes in life, alcohol as we know it would probably be near on impossible to outlaw. After all, it has become the social lubricant of society in most countries. Many would argue that the majority of folks are moderate temperate drinkers who can consume intoxicating beverages in a responsible and controlled manner. If this is true, then why are all these alarming Alcoholism Statistics being brandished around by so many health groups? Let’s take a closer look at some recent findings on the detrimental influence alcohol is said to have on modern day society.

    It’s estimated that 1 in 10 people are alcoholic or borderline alcoholic. More still are heavy drinkers meaning they may not have the characteristics of those with alcoholic tendencies, but they still consume what are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO), dangerous levels of beers, wines, and spirits.

    It’s also worth pointing out that very few death certificates report the cause of passing away as ‘Alcoholism‘. However, many deceased people die as a direct result of consuming too much alcohol, be it over time or during a moment of madness. There are those road accidents too which would never have happened if the driver wasn’t drunk. Other unnecessary fatalities occur from domestic and social violence with some resulting in severe injury and others death! Once again, such brutality and cruelty can be attributed to a direct result of intoxication and the drunk’s inability to control behavior whilst under the influence.  

    More Alarming Alcoholism Statistics

    Putting aside health and behavioral issues for a minute, an incredible number of intoxicated people meet their demise in all sorts of absurd and premature ways. Stepping off of public transport before it has stopped, stumbling into traffic, falling down stairs, walking into working machinery, swimming out to sea, diving into shallow water, walking through glass, choking on vomit, ad infinitum. The list is endless, and it’s growing! More victims of alcohol related mishaps are being reported every single day of the year from young and old, men, women, or teens. Sadly, most folks think that these are things which only happen to irresponsible strangers!

    So many of us think we are in control of our drinking. It’s a common conception that only those who binge all day every day will finally meet their end with cirrhosis of the liver or other alcohol related problems such as heart disease, severe strokes, stomach cancers and the like. This is either blind denial or pure ignorance, although with the latter it’s hard to fathom with so much public information available today on the real risks associated with alcohol abuse.

    Negative Alcoholism Statistics on the up!

    There’s a wise old saying which goes ‘All Knowledge is Power’. But when it comes to consuming alcohol, many of us are so in love with the stuff because of the way it makes us feel, that we find it easy to turn a blind eye to the real dangers. In many respects, mankind is a super intelligent being, but we can also be super stupid too and have a tendency to go through life wearing our own personal self destruct buttons.

    Parent’s behavior has a huge impact on growing children, and oftentimes bad habits rub off onto the offspring. It’s estimated that around 6.6 million kids have at least one parent who is addicted to alcohol or some other drug. As a consequence, youngsters today, and especially teens between the ages of 14 and 17, are also becoming dependent on alcohol, street narcotics, or strong pharmaceuticals.

    Need more Distressing Alcoholism Statistics?

    Once in the grip of alcohol, the life of the abuser often spirals downwards leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Sadly, the success rate for recovery is abysmal to say the least. Although Alcoholics Anonymous is not the only way for problem drinkers to get sober and stay stopped, they can give a good indication on the recovery rate. According to AA, only 4% of alcoholics and heavy drinkers ever make it to their rooms, and out of that 4% who do, only 2% mange to stay stopped and go on to live a life of sobriety. 

    Still dying for a drink?

    Do you or someone close to you have alcohol related problems? Read more about recovery and the alarming trend in Alcoholism Statistics at Addicted to More dot com  Your Independent guide to coping with addictions.