Category Archives: Drinker’s Remorse

Dangers of Drinking in the Morning

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Dangers of Drinking in the Morning

There are two main dangers of drinking in the morning: first, although it prevents heavy drinkers from going into alcohol withdrawals, this is an indication of something more problematic than a hangover; second, drinking in the morning can affect your family and social life and your physical health. So, if you find yourself needing an eye-opener most if not every day, it’s time to reevaluate things.

Drinking in the Morning and Hair of the Dog

The term ‘hair of the dog’ is a shortened version of the phrase: “A hair of the dog that bit you is all that you need” to cure a hangover. This sentiment has been repeated many a time by those giving advice to their remorseful friends wishing to avoid the nasty consequences of heavy drinking the night before: the dreaded hangover. Drinking in the morning, or having an “eye-opener,” is thought to “cure” a hangover however, all it does it delay the inevitable symptoms: pounding headache, light and sound sensitivity, nausea, upset stomach, and so on.

In actuality, the true purpose drinking in the morning is to get you back to where you were five hours ago. Read: intoxicated. After getting about five hours’ sleep, hair of the dog is the virtual time machine that brings you back to last night’s state of drunkenness. And this is an indication of the many dangers of drinking in the morning that are to come.

The Dangers of Drinking in the Morning

One of the dangers of drinking in the morning is that it too easily can become a habit – an indication of a greater problem. If you are going to be driving, then even a small amount of alcohol in the morning can put you over the legal limit when you consider that your blood alcohol content from the night before is still a factor.

Social Dangers of Drinking in the Morning

There are many dangers of drinking in the morning including:

If you feel like you have to drink first thing in the morning in order to face the day, this is most likely an indication psychological dependence on alcohol.

Other dangers of drinking in the morning are that it can easily lead to drinking all day and can make you less productive, which can affect your job.

Drinking in the morning can make you more likely to be involved in accidents – car, work, etc.

Drinking in the morning will usually cause you to blow off your responsibilities.

Health Dangers of Drinking in the Morning

If you are drinking in the morning in order to avoid alcohol withdrawal symptoms, then you are already physically dependent and have possibly crossed over into alcoholism.

If you’re drinking in the morning, you are most likely drinking alone, meaning that you are not drinking alcohol to be sociable but to feel the effects of the alcohol – another indication of burgeoning alcoholism.

Other health dangers of drinking in the morning develop because of drinking alcohol on an empty stomach. This is extremely damaging to your health because it puts you at a greater likelihood of developing alcoholic liver disease and alcoholic dementia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

http://www.silkworth.net/

http://alcoholism.about.com/

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Alateen and Al-Anon Resources

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Alateen and Al-Anon Resources

Alateen and Al-Anon Resources

Addiction is known as a “family disease”. This is because it doesn’t just affect the addict or alcoholic. Loved ones of the addict/alcoholic are often caught up in the destruction as well. Luckily there are groups that address the family members of an alcoholic or addict specifically. Alateen and Al-Anon resources can be very helpful to the families of recovering alcoholics.

The family group idea is nearly as old as Alcoholics Anonymous. Early AA members and their wives visited AA groups around the country. The visiting wives often told the mates of the newer members of Alcoholics Anonymous about how they benefited from trying to live by AA’s Twelve Steps, and how it had helped to improve family relationships that often remained difficult after the alcoholic had become sober. Al-anon was founded in 1951, and the Twelve Steps were adopted as guiding principles.

Teenage children in the families of alcoholics soon realized that their problems differed from those of adult members. In 1957, Alateen grew out of this need. There are now over 1,700 Alateen groups worldwide.

Alateen and Al-Anon Resources: On the Web

Local Alateen and Al-Anon resources can be found through the website at http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/. The website can tell you about group meetings, what you can expect, and where to find a meeting in your area. Group members share their experience, strength, and hope with each other. Anyone who has been affected by another person’s drinking or drug use is welcome to join. There are no dues or fees in Alateen and Al-Anon meetings.

There are also a number of on-line meetings that can be used to supplement attendance at regular face-to-face meetings.

Alateen and Al-Anon Resources: On the phone

Alateen and Al-Anon meetings can also be found by calling the hotline at 888-4AL-ANON (888-425-2666) from 8 am to 8pm ET, Monday through Friday. There are also phone meetings which, like the online meetings, can be used to supplement regular face-to-face Alateen and Al-Anon meetings.

Alateen and Al-Anon Resources: Starting your own group

If there is no Alateen or Al-Anon group in your community, you may want to start one, along with one or two other people who need and want help. Any two or more relatives or friends of alcoholics who meet to solve their common problems may call themselves and Al-Anon or Alateen group, provided they have no other affiliation is a group.

You must decide on a group meeting place, day, and time. Then contact the World Service Office at Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. announcing your decision to start a group. You will be given registration information and instructions on how to complete it. The form can be downloaded from the website. When your group is registered, a group number is assigned and a packet containing introductory materials will be sent to the group’s current mailing address. After the registration process is completed the group contacts the local district or Al-Anon Information Service (AIS) to be included in the local meeting directory and the area web site.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Hangover Movie: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

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Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

Hangover Movie: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a classic hangover movie that every college kid and stoner has seen. It is very much a remake on the very classic Cheech and Chong movies with its ridiculous antics, drug use, sex, and drinking.

Harold Lee and Kumar Patel play the parts of two stoners who end up getting the munchies and decide they want to go to White Castle. Harold is the more introverted awkward character and Kumar is the more outgoing and spontaneous one setting this hangover movie up for some interesting situations. Harold and Kumar’s journey to find a White Castle because of the relocation of the old one; turns into an entire movie.

Harold and Kumar set out to get White Castle and in the process of trying to get some delicious hamburgers to satisfy their munchies, Harold gets bitten by an animal and ends up in the hospital. After getting out of the hospital Harold and Kumar continue their hunt for White Castle and then the car breaks down. After their car breaks down they meet a nice man named Randy who takes them with him to his house to fix their car. At Randy’s house, Randy offers to let Harold and Kumar sleep with his beautiful wife Liane. After this debacle, Harold and Kumar end up picking up a hitch-hiker, who when they stop at a gas station steals their car. So now Harold and Kumar are walking and end up jay walking. After jay walking they get stopped by a police officer who just likes to pick on minorities and ends up arresting Harold and holding him in a cell. Harold and Kumar escape and both run to hid in the bush and come face to face with a cheetah. And the antics go on and on.

Eventually Harold and Kumar find themselves at a raging party that they stop by for a minute and they also in the end make it to White Castle after being up all night losing their car, walking, hitting a party and going through everything they have to get it. While at White Castle the hitchhiker returns the car. And while Harold and Kumar are eating the White Castle it is an epic moment for them because what was supposed to be a quick trip to White Castle had turned into an all-night debacle of sex, drugs, music, and drinking. The classic hangover movie: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Drinking to Cope

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Drinking to Cope

Drinking to Cope

Many studies into drinking alcohol have indicated that multiple that do drink alcoholic beverages, do so as a means to cope with life and its stress. There are so many stresses in life too, for which drinking can be a simple solution. For instance, you can drink to cope with economic stress, job stress, marital problems, and family problems etc. Drinking to cope could mean drinking due to anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger too. Today’s society is so fast paced and there is little support and this could be why some people find themselves drinking to cope.

Do you drink to cope?

When it comes to drinking in order to cope it is not so much the alcohol that is the problem but poor coping skills within the individual. Even though this is quite apparent, a lot of people try to cope with stress by using alcohol and this is actually counterintuitive. Drinking to cope doesn’t actually deal with the problem it just masks the stress. Then people end up having to drink more and more alcohol to gain the same amount of relief from drinking. This is how drinking to cope can easily lead to alcohol abuse and then to alcoholism. Drinking to cope can lead to physical, psychological, health, and social problems. In fact drinking to cope can actually reduce an individual’s ability to cope with stress.

Drinking to cope doesn’t solve anything all it does is create more problems for the individual trying to deal with whatever is going on. Drinking to cope is the equivalent of pouring gasoline on a fire in order to put it out. This may sound extreme but it is true. Drinking to cope will only make things worse especially for the individual who is drinking to excess. An individual who hasn’t reached the point of alcohol abuse doesn’t have to totally abstain from alcohol, but they should cut back from drinking alcohol or try not drinking to cope because it is absolutely vital to their wellbeing to not drink too much. Drinking too much in order to cope with problems is when many people  fall into the grips of alcoholism and once a person has reached that point, there is no coming back. Alcoholism is a lifelong issue and can be really hard to overcome for the person who has drank to the point of changing their brain chemistry.

There are multiple alternative to handling stress other than drinking to cope. For instance many people use yoga to distress. There are also tons of other holistic coping skills and therapies to help with building healthy coping skills. Drinking to cope isn’t the only option.

Here are some healthier alternative other than drinking to cope:

  • Individual therapy
  • Yoga
  • Massage therapy
  • Exercise
  • Meditation
  • Acupuncture
  • Breathing exercises
  • Long walks
  • Cleaning
  • Talking to someone

No one has to drink to cope. Drinking to cope is a choice that can be changed. The consequences of drinking to cope can be very grave and those consequences don’t have to be felt if other coping strategies can be implemented. Healthy coping skills are a tool that an individual can keep with them forever too in order to instill a permanent sense of wellbeing within them. This is much better in comparison to drinking to cope and just compounding the problems.

Sources:

http://stresscourse.tripod.com/id86.html

http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/stress-and-drinking/

 

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Drinker’s Remorse

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Drinker's Remorse

Drinker’s Remorse

“Ugh, I am never drinking again.” I say as I touch my fingers to my throbbing temples. “It’s just not worth it.”

I must’ve said those words a hundred times over in my drinking career. The guilt, shame, and/or physical discomfort would keep me away from booze for a couple of days, but inevitably, I’d be back at it again the next weekend. Eventually, my drinking landed me in rehab and then in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, but that’s a different story for a different day.

That feeling I had, I learned later, is known as drinker’s remorse, and it’s pretty common amongst binge drinkers. Binge drinking is defined as having 4 or more drinks in one sitting for women, or 5 or more for men. Drinker’s remorse comes from the either regretting what you did while you we’re wasted, or regretting you drank enough to give you a wicked hangover.

My worst feelings of drinker’s remorse would come when I either remembered something awful I had done while drinking or someone else reminded me of something awful I had done. I’d wake up and think, “Oh shit! What did I do last night?” while frantically trying to piece together the events of the night before. Other times, I’d wake up and be peacefully unaware that anything was amiss, because I had “blacked out” while drinking.  That is, until a friend would call to remind me, and the awful memories would come flooding back. Or until the random guy I had gone home with would turn over in bed and make me aware of his presence. Or I would look at my phone and see who I called or texted while I was wasted.

I hated that feeling of drinker’s remorse. I felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach. My brain would frantically race through thoughts like:

“How bad was I?”

“Did everyone see?”

“Can I sneak this guy out of my apartment before my roommates wake up?”

“Do I still have friends?”

“Do I still have a job?”

and finally

“FUCK!”

The main difference between me and my non-alcoholic friends is that they would have one or two of these mornings of drinker’s remorse, and then they would learn their lesson. They wouldn’t drink that way again. I never learned my lesson. No matter how many times I woke up with drinker’s remorse, no matter how many times I would promise that I would cut down or quit drinking all together, I would be back in the same place a couple of weeks later.

In my experience, drinker’s remorse can be cured in one of three ways:

1. Exercise (In fact, people who exercise regularly get drinker’s remorse less frequently)

2. More liquor (Not always the best choice, but that didn’t stop me!)

3. Resolving the issue you regret (This can’t always be done, but if you can apologize or make up for something you regret, this is the best cure for drinker’s remorse.)

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.