Quit Drinking

"Telling teens and pre-teens to 'Just Say No' is simply not enough to stop them from drinking. This message neglects the underlying pressures that youth face every day. In fact, this simplistic message not only tends to turn teens off, but it also can become a source of humor for them. Rather than just telling them not to drink, teach them about the harmful effects and about the consequences of underage drinking."

"Many people turn to the use of alcohol for pain relief and due to its ability to depress the central nervous system and slow down the brain and the nervous system. As a result, drinking alcohol for many people delivers a certain amount of pain relief."

"Vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 20. Combining the lack of driving experience among teens with the use of marijuana and/or other substances that impair cognitive and motor abilities can be a deadly combination."

"Alcohol is typically found in the offender, victim or both, in about half of all U.S. homicides and serious assaults, as well as in a high percentage of sex-related crimes, robberies, and incidents of domestic violence, and alcohol-related problems are disproportionately found among both juvenile and adult criminal offenders."

"Methamphetamine is an increasingly popular drug at raves (all night dancing parties), and as part of a number of drugs used by college-aged students. Marijuana and alcohol are commonly listed as additional drugs of abuse among methamphetamine treatment admissions."

"Ironically, the abuser's ability to get 'high' from the alcohol or drug gradually decreases as his body adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. This means that they must take more and more drugs or alcohol, not just to get an effect but often just to function at all."

"A national team of investigators led by psychiatric geneticists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a gene that appears to be linked to both alcoholism and depression. This gene might be a susceptibility gene that puts a person at risk for developing both alcoholism and depression."

"Alcohol abuse and alcoholism research demonstrates the fact that if you consume alcoholic beverages, it's important to know whether your drinking patterns are safe, risky or harmful. Answering these questions will take only a few minutes, and will generate personalized results based on your age, gender and drinking patterns."

"According to the alcohol abuse and alcoholism research literature, approximately 500 million work days are lost each year to alcoholism in the United States."

"According to mental health and substance abuse experts, the finding regarding the relationship between alcoholism and depression and alcoholism is noteworthy because many people, including healthcare practitioners, tend to perceive depression and alcoholism as separate problems, when in fact, they are frequently associated with one another. In short, when an individual is treated for alcoholism, he or she should also be checked for depression and when an person is treated for depression, he or she should be checked for alcoholism."

"If you engage in frequent abusive and excessive drinking behavior and you seek professional treatment, your treatment team may administer a mental health examination to assess whether you have other conditions such as depression or social anxiety disorder. The reason for this is that various mental health issues often take place along with alcoholism and alcohol abuse."

"U.S. alcohol abuse researchers have discovered that children learn their attitudes about drinking from those around them, especially from their friends, their parents, and from other adults."

"Since nothing can change what took place in the past, it is hoped that all of the state and federal prisoners who abused drugs and/or alcohol in the past have access to alcoholism and alcohol abuse programs as well as to substance abuse and addiction treatment while they are still in prison."

"During the last stage of alcoholism, benders are common. Stated more explicitly, during this stage of the disease, the alcoholic often gets helplessly and hopelessly drunk and may remain in this predicament for days at a time. The unattainable goal for the alcohol dependent person at this time is to recapture the feeling of euphoria he or she once experienced."

"According to U.S. substance abuse researchers, alcoholism is a heritable disease and is frequently accompanied by other substance abuse disorders (particularly nicotine), anxiety and mood disorders, and antisocial personality disorder."

"The findings of the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and Addiction demonstrated that, while millions of Americans habitually drink alcohol, swallow prescription drugs, smoke pot, and snort cocaine, a number of drug users who meet or exceed the standards that indicate that they need professional treatment do not realize or accept the fact that they have a drug abuse problem."

"Research studies demonstrate that due to the fact that small amounts of alcohol from the mother can get into breast milk and passed on to the baby, and since excessive amounts of alcohol may impede the flow of milk from the breast, the March of Dimes strongly urges women to refrain from drinking alcohol while they are nursing."

"As people age, it takes fewer drinks to become intoxicated, and organs can be damaged by smaller amounts of alcohol than in younger people. Also, up to one-half of the 100 most prescribed drugs for older people react adversely with alcohol."

"Research shows that there is no known "cure" for alcoholism. It can be treated, but never "cured." Intervention will work only if the alcoholic becomes committed to never taking another drink."

"According to U.S. research statistics, the overwhelming majority of American youth cite their parents as the primary influence in their decisions about whether they drink alcohol or not."

"According to alcohol abuse and alcoholism research statistics, alcohol-related accidents are so common that an estimated 40 percent of the individuals in the U.S. will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic accident at some time in their lives."

"Many people turn to the use of alcohol for pain relief and due to its ability to depress the central nervous system and slow down the brain and the nervous system. As a result, drinking alcohol for many people delivers a certain amount of pain relief."

"According to research undertaken in the U.S., peripheral neuropathy, damage to the nerves in the limbs, occurs in 5% to 15% of people with alcoholism. Such injuries cause tingling, pain, and numbness in the hands, feet, arms and legs."

"When a person consumes a heavy amount of alcohol over a short period of time, or use is continuous over a number of days or weeks, this is called intensive use, bingeing, or binge drinking."

"The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has established procedures for mandatory alcohol testing that require the employment of a standardized breathalyzer. The categories of testing that are allowed by the DOT are the following: random, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident."

"According to the research literature, in the U.S., alcohol is linked with an estimated 5,000 deaths in people under age 21 each year. This is more deaths than from all the illegal drugs combined."

"Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to suffer employment problems, abuse other drugs, and commit criminal and violent acts once they reach young adulthood, according to a RAND Health study."

"As demonstrated by alcoholism statistics, approximately 14 million people in the United States are addicted to alcohol or engage in alcohol abuse."

"Regardless of how someone is diagnosed as alcohol dependent or how they came to realize they have a serious drinking problem, the first step to treatment is a sincere desire to get help. Alcoholics who are pressured into treatment by social pressure or forced to quit by others rarely succeed in the long run."

"Regardless of the source of addiction, the effects are mainly in the brain, physically, chemically, and psychologically affecting energy levels and emotions."

"Rather than focusing on their drinking as the cause of the many problems they face, alcoholics, during the second stage of alcoholism, start to blame others and things external to themselves."

"Whether a baby's alcohol or drug-caused health problems will continue as the child grows older is not always known. Medical research does show, however, that children born to mothers who used marijuana and or alcohol regularly during pregnancy may have trouble concentrating, when they get older."

"It seems that a lot of people focus more on the treatment of alcoholism than on the treatment of alcohol abuse. Clearly, one of the reasons for this is that alcoholism is a more serious medical condition than alcohol abuse. There is, however, a convincing argument for the treatment of alcohol abuse BEFORE an individual's abusive and hazardous drinking escalates and becomes alcohol dependency."

"Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used."