Alcohol and You
Have you ever:
Felt like you should cut down on your drinking?
Had other people criticise your drinking?
Felt guilty or bad about your drinking?
Needed a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
Any of these could be a red flag to get some help.
Persistent alcohol misuse increases your risk of serious health conditions, including:
- Heart disease and stroke
- Liver disease
- Liver cancer and bowel cancer
- Pancreatitis
- Alcohol also affects your sleep patterns, weight and moods, including depression.
Associated Traits
People associate dependent drinking (alcoholism) with problems such as unemployment, divorce, domestic abuse and homelessness. But it could be affecting your life in more subtle ways. You could even have got to a stage when you can tolerate very high levels of alcohol – amounts that would dangerously affect or kill some people.
Stopping drinking suddenly could actually make you ill too. You might experience physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms, such as:
- Hand tremors a.k.a. “the shakes”
- Sweating
- Seeing things that aren’t real
- Depression and anxiety
We can help you to reduce your drinking or stop altogether if that’s necessary for you. We do this by looking at the reasons you drink, your triggers and cravings. Then we work with you to build stronger decision making skills and ways of coping.
The treatment could be:
- A series of shorter meetings with a Key Worker to look at why you drink and how to reduce your consumption
- Home detox
- Residential detox
- Residential rehab
- Community rehab at our freedom building.
