It was recently reported that half of all people in this country have at least one family member who has a drinking problem. And since it is also a known fact that people have a genetic disposition towards this kind of problem, the worry is that these numbers are expected to continue to go up in the future. In the hopes of making people see that drinking too much is neither fun nor relaxing, but downright dangerous, here are the hard facts that BRC Recovery wants you to know.
It Can Permanently Affect Your Brain
Alcohol rehabilitation centers can help people recover from their problem, but there is unfortunately only so much that they can do. Alcohol is more dangerous than most people actually realize. Although how much permanent damage will occur depends on a whole host of factors, it is important to know what some of these dangers are. “Alcohol can cause alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain, which continues to mature into a person’s mid-20s, and it may have consequences reaching far beyond adolescence.”
If Alcohol Was Introduced Today, It Would Be Classified as a Class A Drug
Alcoholic beverages are readily available in every grocery store around the country. You can walk into any bar and order an alcoholic drink and most people have a number of alcoholic beverages at home at all times. Although there are age restrictions on who can purchase alcohol, the reality is that it is a legal substance. However, if it were a new substance introduced today, it would be categorized as a Class A drug.
“A new league table of drugs and the harm they do has been developed by Professor David Nutt of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the government’s scientific advisory body on drugs policy, and Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the Medical Research Council. Professor Blakemore said that under the alternative system for categorizing drugs he had worked on, “Alcohol would probably be listed as a class A drug.”
Additionally, alcohol has been found to be more damaging to public health than tobacco. To give this some perspective, imagine being able to purchase cocaine or crack off the supermarket shelves. Imagine going to a bar and ordering a hypodermic needle with heroin from a bar and that the only thing you have to do in order to be allowed to do so is prove that you are over 21. However, alcohol is so ingrained in our society and the government earns so much from it, that actually making it a Class A drug would be impossible (they tried and failed during the Prohibition).
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Are on the Rise
As alcoholism is starting to become more and more common among women, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are on the rise too. There is a lot of confusion about drinking alcohol during pregnancy, with some doctors still advocating a daily glass of red wine, others stating that “a few drinks” won’t hurt and others stating that total abstinence is the only way to protect a baby. However, total abstinence is impossible for someone who has a drinking problem and is not receiving treatment.
BRC Recovery offers gender-specific recovery programs. Various research findings show that men and women recover from drug addiction and alcohol addiction differently.
