The Truth About Alcoholism (Infographic)

COED

May 26, 2010 11:00 am|Updated: Nov 7, 2013 2:15 pm

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coed.com...
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Have you been waking up in strange places with even stranger people? Are you starting to question if it’s normal that you can’t get through the day without blacking out? Is there a beer bong surgically attached to your face? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be a classic alcoholic. Unsure if you’re ready to trade in frat parties for AA meetings. Check out this infographic produced by Medical Insurance called The Truth About Alcoholism to figure it out.
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[Chris Mullin on his battle with alcoholism]
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Notes from the infographic:

--15,000,000 abusing/dependent on alcohol
--Wisconsin--7.4% of population
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--25% of college students who drink cannot remember where they were or what they did while drinking
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--599,000 are unintentionally injured while under the influence yearly.
--1,700 of those die
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--alcohol is seriously implicated in Oesophageal cancer
--liver cancer
--Cirrhosis of the liver
--Homicide
--Epilepsy
--vehicle accidents
--throat cancer increased chance by 700%
--colon cancer increased chance by 80%
--lung cancer increased chance by 50%
--high blood pressure increased chance by 100%
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--HEAVY DRINKING REDUCES BRAIN CELL PRODUCTION IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS, THE AREA THAT PROVIDES THE SELF-CONTROL NECESSARY TO STOP DRINKING. [That is also the area of the brain that FIRST goes to sleep bit by bit WHEN one is drinking]
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I worked for a year in alcohol treatment at a clinic in my internship during my PhD program.
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From that experience and my 30 years of counseling and teaching--the latter at universities--I have come to a strong conviction that tends to rile people more than a little:
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imho, IF a person drinks 3 or more cans of beer; glasses of wine; shots of hard stuff PER DAY
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and IF
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that person CANNOT go cold turkey and stop drinking for 6 months WITHOUT SERIOUSLY MISSING THE ALCOHOL
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THEN that person WILL end up a serious alcoholic before too many years have passed. And their family relationships; work relationships and the rest of their life experience will be seriously damaged as a result.
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"Occasional" drunken weekends are also an indication already of a serious degree of alcoholism.
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Healthy, adjusted, sane, balanced individuals do NOT NEED anesthetized from the challenges of daily life to cope--with a weekend or anything else.
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I've never believed nor understood how pain inducing hangovers were a sign of "fun."
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Go to a bar sometime and listen to the conversations--WITHOUT DRINKING YOURSELF--particularly as the evening goes on. There's nothing bright or intimate or clever about what's being said, at all. It's amazing if anyone is listening to anyone else at all. And the content to be listened to would embarrass a thinking 4 year old--just because it's so silly, absurd, blah, shallow, cheap--useless.
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The only difference between the anesthesia ether and alcohol is one water molecule. In surgery, ether is used to take you down to JUST ABOVE DEATH--where they try and hold you--very delicately--during the surgery. That's why the insurance rates are so high for the anesthesiologists.
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Violence is much worse and more frequent in homes where alcohol is routinely consumed at the level of 3 or more drinks--in my observation and experience. Certainly stats bear that out for designated alcoholics.
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IF a family intervention is required to break through someone's denial--make it happen.
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IF a spouse is being routinely battered because of alcoholism--LEAVE--the offender WILL NOT CHANGE--CANNOT CHANGE short of serious residential treatment and long term follow-up.
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Look into the eyes of children cowering in fear as a drunken dad batters a sober or a drunken mother for the umpteenth time.
Look into the eyes of children longing for a sane, stable, strong, but warm and tender dad to love them faithfully instead of stumbling home drunk at 0300 for the umpteenth time that month.
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And then try and tell me that there's something funny or fun about alcohol abuse.
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It is deadly to organ systems.
It is deadly to individuals.
It is deadly to marriages.
It is deadly to spouses.
It is deadly to children.
It is deadly to jobs.
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Wake-up, folks. DEAL WITH IT!

--while you still have enough life left to try.

a reply to: BO XIAN

you have never really lived or loved if you believe no sane person would want relief from life by turning off the control for a night.Also who is truely sane in a world like this?

Now with that being said pretty much everything else is spot on.

i have heard people say the drunks are the people who care too much and that they are the people who cant let go off some memory.Some say they secretly hate themselves and drink to escape their past which they can never outrun.

Now I dont believe in telling people they can never do something again for the rest of their lifes because they will fail. But i do believe in balance and everything in moderation.

a reply to: digital01anarchy

I'm an alcoholic but I'm not running from anything.
It's more of a dependence thing than anything else. My brain feels more normal now with alcohol.
I obviously don't drink at work and I also am on my third raise in 9 months.. Plus a promotion.
I'm the happiest person I know. I'm even the go to guy for advice and other people feeling better.

So anyway..

If I quit cold right at this moment it would take maybe 3 days before I start becoming tired and muddled and "weak" feeling..

My memory is insanely bad. Lucky my intelligence makes up for it. It's only memory of names that's bad. Directions experiences timing other people's stories anything but names of movies/places/people is fine.

I'm the most reliable person at work.

My body is being poisoned of course.

At the moment I have no desire to change.

I went from 20 drinks to now about 9 sometimes 3 and I don't have urges to drink when I don't want to.. So like about 10 days ago I had not had a drink in a week.

I have my own pattern of dependence. It's more an overall dependence long term than a day to day thing. And I drink to have more fun. Not to hide anything. I noticed for me it's replacable with any kind of fun. I don't smoke herbs anymore because it affects my ability to function more, but when I do I drink 1 or 2 beers.

Right now I'm on beer 4? I think.. After 11 hours work day.

I'm an alcoholic..
I'm sure my body doesn't like me for it..
But my body needs it too..
Conundrum..

I like this thread.

I hope no one reads what I wrote and thinks it's acceptable. Or not a problem. It is a problem I'm just very practiced at drinking so it doesn't affect relationships or work or anything except my health and especially my memory.

Slide slide slide so easy slip and slide on the ride of alcoholism..
I'm my case I didn't know I was alcoholic until I had been for years already.

Careful peeps.
Love you guys.

Thanks for the thread BO

a reply to: Reverbs

Well you just summed up my lifestyle in one post, you took the words out of my mouth.

3 drinks a day or 10 for that matter doesnt make you an alcoholic. I am an alcoholic. I go all week without drinking because I know if I have 1 beer I won't stop until I pass out and won't be able to get up at 3 am and go to work. Honestly it doesnt happen every time I drink, but I have no control over when it does. Like a switch goes off and do not want to stop drinking, no matter the consequences.

That is what makes an alcoholic. Not being able to stop once you start. all the counseling and treatment centers in the world cannot help you. The only way to stop drinking is to just not drink.

Thank you for this eye opening thread. I've being trying to gently encourage my husband to stop at 3 or 4 beers. He tends to drink 6-12 at a time and his snoring makes it hard to sleep.

I don't really drink much - a few glasses of wine over the course of a year. So he told me I just don't know what is normal. It's also not my place to tell him how much to drink, so I usually just don't say anything. I worry about his health but I want to keep peace in the marriage and I know my role as his wife is to submit to him. I can encourage good healthy habits and live by example, but he is ultimately the one in charge of what he puts in his body.

a reply to: Reverbs

You are one "COOL, HONEST GUY".....

a reply to: tommo39

I'm not sure if people know but alcohol blocks protein synthesis. Protien is amino acids is DNA is YOU...
It also kills your B vitamins and the rest of them. There is such a thing as alcohol induced anemia as well, which means your red blood cells don't carry as much oxygen...

As I age I feel these things more and more.
And I age quicker with alcohol in the amounts I consume.

And I'm honest because I care. Im also honest because my ego needs no feeding. Im also honest because I have empathy. And I'm honest because truth rules haha.

a reply to: BO XIAN

I believe many people have genetic energy metabolic disorders, and consume alcohol as an auto-medication. Many time I heard of Fibromyalgia sufferer that fell better the day following consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is also a blocker of gluconeogenesis, it will lower endogenous glucose production (not a bad thing).

In my case, alcohol give me lot of energy. It provide energy in the form of acetate in blood, an alternative form of fuel to glucose. This alternative metabolic pathway possibly bypass "faulty" others metabolic pathways.

I have observed many alcoholics and the pattern is often the same and also prevalence of genetic inheritence. On the other hand, people with correctly functionning metabolism have no advantage to consume alcohol. They are the one that will have terrible hangout the next days and have only the bads of alcohol.

But an important problem with alcohol is, alcohol... Heavy drinker get all the disadvantage of alcohol like vitamin B blocking... So I believe that commercial alcohol is bad, it is lacking all the good stuff. I make my own wine and make it on purpose very acidic. Fruit acids from wine grape are very good (malic, citric...) so I consume them with my wine. Also, I do not clarify it completely, so there is still the compounds (vitamin and mineral) from the yeast present. And red wine is a good source of Resveratrol.

As alcohol block B12, you need to force the dose of B12 a little bit to allow some to still do its work.

originally posted by: digital01anarchy
a reply to: BO XIAN

you have never really lived or loved if you believe no sane person would want relief from life by turning off the control for a night.Also who is truely sane in a world like this?

Oh, I'm keenly aware of the WHY's. I've had some extremely excruciating and long . . . long dark nights of the soul. And, I have tons of empathy that the lives of some alcoholics has tugged on intensely.

Nevertheless, I don't know how sane one could label such self-destructive patterns of behavior.

Now with that being said pretty much everything else is spot on.

Thanks BIG for your kind affirmation.

i have heard people say the drunks are the people who care too much and that they are the people who cant let go off some memory.Some say they secretly hate themselves and drink to escape their past which they can never outrun.

Now I dont believe in telling people they can never do something again for the rest of their lifes because they will fail. But i do believe in balance and everything in moderation.

Your points ring true and are well made.

I'm not above suggesting or giving and exhortation that someone would be wise to avoid alcohol the rest of their lives. I know that changing behavior is extremely difficult to do--for most of us.

a reply to: Reverbs

THANKS TONS for your candid narrative.

It doesn't surprise me greatly. A huge percentage of alcoholics are very very bright. And even with the alcohol killing brain cells left and right, they seem to have plenty left over for quite some years.

And it is common for alcoholics to be among the best in a given job situation.

You have less denial than average. CONGRATS ON THAT SCORE.

Nevertheless, it DOES catch up with everyone.

And once the slide down begins, it doesn't tend to stop until there's just a miserable hurting heap at the bottom of the slide.

You might do well to research the problem a bit more . . . usually, it doesn't work so well to taper off to 1 or 2 a day--your addiction is, after all, a physiological addiction TOO. But it's a worthy goal.

Otherwise, you are slowly poisoning your body and relationships toward crashing and burning--however long it takes.

Thanks for your kind words.

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

Then probably my reply to Reverbs would apply plenty to you, too.

I wish there was more I could do . . . the pattern is well established.

It does have a more or less definite end. The only question is how much time and how horrible the crash and burn, ultimately.

a reply to: tinner07

There's plenty of truth in your points.

A family intervention can have impact if done well.

However, until the alcoholism has started to obviously destroy jobs and family relationships, the denial or rationalizations can reign supreme.

Wish I could say something to help. I don't know of any magic words to offer you.

a reply to: VegHead

There's a lot of wisdom and truth in your post.

However, I strongly encourage you to get to some ALANON meetings and learn more about the problem.

And, if you had a child that wanted to play with a pet cobra . . . would you still think it was not your place to say much?

I don't think of it as loving to allow someone to slowly suicide themselves.

Hubby is in some level of denial and certainly rationalizing his drinking. He's WRONG about what is HEALTHILY NORMAL.

Just because masses of the population are anesthetized by alcohol from the pains and anxieties and demands of living does not make it "normal" in any decent sense of the word.

My heart goes out to you.

PLEASE get some RATIONAL, BALANCED gal friends who know what the problem is like.

originally posted by: Reverbs
a reply to: tommo39

I'm not sure if people know but alcohol blocks protein synthesis. Protien is amino acids is DNA is YOU...
It also kills your B vitamins and the rest of them. There is such a thing as alcohol induced anemia as well, which means your red blood cells don't carry as much oxygen...

As I age I feel these things more and more.
And I age quicker with alcohol in the amounts I consume.

And I'm honest because I care. Im also honest because my ego needs no feeding. Im also honest because I have empathy. And I'm honest because truth rules haha.

YOU'RE A KICK. IT'S GREAT YOU ARE SO WELL INFORMED. CONGRATS.

Though . . . you seem to have some amount of ego problem that may be deluding you that you can dance faster than the alcohol and escape most damage for some time to come. Yet, you seem keenly aware of the damages exacted on your poor body. You are a paradox.

If you want a more personal dialogue, you are welcome to U2U me.

There's some greater hope in you changing than there is most alcoholics. Not sure what the missing key is.

Thanks for the dialogue.

a reply to: PeterMcFly

Thanks for your good points.

I was taught that there is a genetic component--a predisposition. The OP article said the jury is still out on that issue.

Given all your clarity of thought and disciplines with alcohol, what would it cost you to reduce your consumption to 2 a day--religiously?

I feel it's appropriate to weigh in, as I was an alcoholic for about a decade.

Reverb, your lifestyle is very similar to the one that I was living. And genetics are a MAJOR factor in alcoholism. The Irish roots from my maternal side of the family killed both my grandparents in their 40's with cirrhosis and also had me develop a very forgiving liver with a super high tolerance to alcohol.

.... But I took that tolerance and abused the hell out of it. During my later days of drinking, it wasn't uncommon for me to kill an entire bottle of vodka, THEN crack open beers in the same night.

And yes, i was a very functional alcoholic. Which in itself is a dangerous thing. Somehow I'd never blackout, vomit, be aggressive or obnoxious or even get a hangover significant enough to affect my daily life. I was also usually the advice-giver and reliable one in my circle of friends. There was no forseeable issue.

Until I realized just how dependent i was on the booze. If it wasn't in my system for a long enough period of time, I'd get the shakes, sweat, become light headed and weak. Basically feel flu-like symptoms until i drank alcohol again. That's when you hit the dead end street. Because your choice is: either you continue to drink very often or you go to detox in a hospital.

What many young folks in my situation don't realize is that you really CANNOT detox on your own when you're in that deep, because you can die fron the withdrawls. You need to be under hospital care in case your kidneys decide to go haywire among other fatal possibilities. People can go cold turkey from coc aine, crack, even heroin. And even though they may feel as if they want to die from the experience, they won't. With alcohol, you can.

In a nutshell I detoxed several times in hospitals. And each time trying to quit drinking upon leaving the detox, only to abstain for a few months until relapsing.
The final time I had grown so sick of my own behavior that I really put my heart & soul in it. I gave it 150%. Went through detox, went straight into an inpatient rehab for 28 days, then actively dissected my whole psyche to really grasp what goes on my own head rather than just be a willing victim of my own thoughts. It shifted my whole paradigm.

After i came home from rehab, i was still physically sick for about 2 months. My body basically had to finish draining lingering toxins and learn how to function again without being soaked in alcohol every day. I truly didn't realize how badly I had damaged my body. Luckily I was only 32 years old and strong enough to bounce back from it.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that with alcohol you really have to beware of what's going on beneath the surface. With the folks that don't present the problem as blatant or urgent, we may be the ones doing the most damage.

Happy ending though. I haven't had a drop to drink in many years and I'm absolutely happy and at peace in life. I smoke weed here and there, but its certainly not a crutch nor am i dependent on it. One of my biggest fears about quitting booze was that life would be mundane or boring without it. I was wrong by a longshot.

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a reply to: AgarthaSeed

Well put. Very insightful. Thanks.

INDEED. Life is more interesting and even exciting when one is not anesthetized by alcohol.

CONGRATS on your progress and abstinence.

a reply to: BO XIAN

I'm not a consistent drinker, sometime I goes couples days without a glass of wine to make sure I did not develop the shake... Sometime just couples glass, sometime take a little too much.

My liver seem to tolerate alcohol as long that there is no sugar at all mixed with alcohol, the two at the same time overload it. My only concern is my pancreas, this organ is very affected by alcohol.

Since I stoped commercial alcohol & beer, my tolerance have inproved a lot. I believe there is stuff in commercial alcohol that shall not be there like preservative. The rare time I drink cheap wine from the grocery, spouse always tell me I have pouches under eyes.

a reply to: PeterMcFly

Greater tolerance has been called a sure sign that one has a predisposition to alcoholism.

I wouldn't take much comfort in it.

Your take on homegrown is interesting.

Thanks for your kind reply.