Alcohol Abuse: Signs, Risks & How to Get Help

Heavy drinking has been linked to ailments like liver disease, heart disease and certain types of cancer. And while the “sober-curious” trend is encouraging, the reality is that alcohol is embedded in the fabric of many of our daily lives. While getting sober offers a host of wellness benefits, it’s often not a “trendy” experience. Nevertheless, people who have AUD should take extra care before suddenly quitting or significantly decreasing their intake as they can experience symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

1. While these factors may be used to diagnose alcohol abuse, an accurate diagnosis depends on your honesty with your treatment provider.
2. Coupled with the new weight loss, the decreased bloating may also improve your belly’s appearance.
3. One of the unexpected benefits of giving up alcohol is that you may find yourself more productive than before.
4. Even cutting back your drinking by a third can lower the number of injuries and sick days.

Many individuals find themselves caught in a cycle of using alcohol as a coping mechanism for emotional pain, only to find that it ultimately exacerbates their distress. This realization can be a turning point, motivating individuals to seek healthier ways of managing their emotions and ultimately leading them to quit alcohol. Additionally, long-term alcohol abuse can increase the risk of developing alcoholic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged, weakened, and unable to pump blood efficiently. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure, a serious condition that requires medical intervention.

This includes information we publish on our website, which undergoes a thorough editorial process. After a fortnight, you are also likely to start losing weight as a result of giving up alcohol’s empty calories. If you were to stop drinking six 175ml glasses of wine per week, you would have saved 1920 calories at this point, and 2160 if you’d stopped drinking around six pints of lager. Heavier drinkers should make sure to check in with a medical provider before quitting due to the potential of developing withdrawal symptoms.

Many use alcohol to reduce stress and promote relaxation, but chronic alcohol use increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol. “Sometimes people drink alcohol to help them relax or navigate social anxiety, only to find it makes things worse,” says McMahon. They also noticed that levels of proteins in the blood that promote cancer growth, namely epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) decreased by around 73% and 41%, respectively. Moore hypothesized that instead of causing cancer to develop in the first place, these findings may suggest that alcohol instead promotes cancer’s growth once it gets a footing in the body. To confirm this speculation, however, the team would need to conduct a long-term study of moderate drinkers, the authors noted in their report. If you need a break from alcohol, going alcohol-free for a month or more can bring about many physical and mental health benefits.

Addiction Relapse Prevention: Strategies and Tips

Although some people find drinking alcohol helps them get to sleep more quickly, the quality of sleep is affected. Alcohol disrupts the important Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep, which can leave you feeling tired the next day – no matter how long you stay in bed. Once alcohol is eliminated from the body, it begins to repair and heal itself.

Giving up alcohol for just 1 month has lasting benefits

After you drink alcohol, Volpicelli explains that the small molecules inside it get absorbed by your gut. From there, they travel to other parts of your body and affect organ systems, including the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems, along the way. “Furthermore, consistent use of alcohol to induce 15 of the best sobriety podcasts to listen to in recovery sleep only increases the need to use alcohol in the future to get to sleep,” he explains. Alcohol plays a role in at least half of all serious trauma injuries and deaths from burns, drownings, and homicides. It’s also involved in four out of 10 fatal falls and traffic crashes, as well as suicides.

Your Heart and Liver Will Thank You

Given how many variables there are, it is hard to define an “average” drinker. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes “drinking in moderation” as having no more than one drink a day if you’re a woman or two drinks a day if you’re a man, on the days that you drink alcohol. Two-thirds of adult drinkers, however, say they exceed these levels at least once a month, a 2014 study found. If you drink in excess, cutting out alcohol for a period of time can help your liver, heart, and body composition. In this article, we’ll talk about the health risks that come with drinking and the bored, bored, bored, and overeating. This does not mean that a mental health condition will necessarily go aware when you stop drinking but abstaining from alcohol use can improve your symptoms and lead to better treatment outcomes.

Improved Sleep

It also makes you more impulsive, and less able to resist the fries and other temptations on the menu. So when you stay away from alcohol, the number on your scale may well start moving down. As alcohol use continues, the body and brain adjust to the neurochemistry changes caused by the alcohol. This adjustment, called dependence, makes it necessary to have alcohol so the brain and body can function normally. Or if you’re just thinking about taking a break from alcohol, for your own reasons or as part of a challenge, you will be joining millions of others. There are many benefits to your health if you cut out alcohol completely.

Once the initial symptoms of withdrawal have subsided, you may find that you have more energy than you did before you stopped drinking. This is because alcohol is a depressant, so when it’s no longer in your system, your body has more energy to work with. One of the best things about giving up alcohol is that you may find yourself feeling happier overall.

Physical Signs of Alcohol Abuse

And stopping drinking could make feelings of stress easier to deal with. In heavy drinkers with more severe scarring or liver failure, giving up alcohol for several years reduces their chance of worsening liver failure and death. However, people who drink heavily can be physically dependent on alcohol and stopping suddenly can cause alcohol withdrawal.

However, when you stop drinking, your risk of developing these diseases decreases. This condition is serious and may lead to symptoms such as high blood pressure, tremors, and seizures. The brain also begins to repair some of the damage and shrinkage you may have experienced while drinking. One study showed that after 6 weeks of abstinence from alcohol, brain volume increases by an average of 2%. If you or a loved one struggles with alcohol addiction, help is available. The most important step to recovering from alcohol addiction is seeking treatment.

For dependent drinkers, blood pressure may reduce to normal levels by the 3rd or 4th week. For dependent drinkers, in some cases, you may experience nightmares, anxiety, and insomnia due to long-term withdrawal symptoms. If you struggle with addiction and have other health problems, please contact a medical professional to assist your recovery process. Most drinkers 7 ways to have fun at parties as the only sober person start to sleep better after a week of no alcohol consumption. This better sleep is caused by more REM sleep, the deepest stage of sleep where dreaming and memory occur. The research, which Dr. Richard de Visser from the University of Sussex led, found that people who took part in Dry January in 2018 reported higher energy levels and healthier body weight.

Physical withdrawal symptoms will also be well in the past, and you will feel clearer and more energized. However, alcohol is high in calories, and drinking can lead to overeating. Therefore, after you quit alcohol, you will likely be consuming fewer calories, which may help you reach a healthier weight.

Months

Alcohol can be highly addictive, especially when consumed in large amounts within a short period. The process of addiction may begin with the first drink, with physical and mental factors that can escalate quickly. When you notice you are struggling with alcohol, seeking medical advice can help you avoid developing an addiction.