DRUNK IN THE CITY & IN THE COUNTRY TOO
By Lee Degenstein
THE PROBLEM
By the time today is over, more than 7,000 children under the age of 18 will have had their first drink. Studies indicate that if a child has his or her first drink under the age of 15, their chances of becoming alcoholic later in life increase five fold.
Two years ago in New York City alone, 44% of all reported homicides according to the NYPD were alcohol or drug related. The figures in other large cities in America are pretty much the same. Alcohol dependence accounts for approximately 100,000 deaths per year in the United States.
The cost of alcohol dependence in this country is nearly $185 billion in direct and social costs per year. More than 70% of that cost is attributed to lost productivity. The numbers are similar for drug dependence.
So how many Americans are alcohol dependent? According to the National Council on Alcoholism, more than 18 million are alcohol dependent but only 2.4 million have been diagnosed with the disease and just 139,000 receive medication to treat it. The same data indicated that there are between 5.5 and 6 million Americans who are addicted to drugs. If you are getting the feeling that we have a big problem in this country, you have gotten the right feeling.
IT’S A DISEASE
I just used the word disease. Simply stated, alcoholism is a disease. Since 1956, the American Medical Association has categorized alcoholism as being a disease. Even so, more than 62% of Americans incorrectly think alcoholism is a moral weakness issue involving people with no willpower. Most feel it’s just a case of bad people doing bad things. 74% of us say alcohol has affected their lives in one way or another. A staggering 25% of children in this country live or lived with one parent who is alcohol dependent or abuses alcohol. I was one of those kids. In fact, depending on the data you read, approximately 45-50% of children of alcoholic parents become alcoholics later in life. Make no mistake, this is a genetic disease.
ARE YOU AN ALCOHOLIC?
So how do you know if you are an alcoholic? The National Council on Alcoholism has developed a 26 question test which will help you determine if you have a problem with alcohol. To see the test, copy and paste this link into your web browser, www.songdov.com/indexst.htm. Jokingly, several alcoholics who have started on the road to recovery by taking this very test say it is the only test they have ever taken where they got a perfect score. Many professionals will tell you that if you are asking yourself the question, “Am I an alcoholic”, you most likely have a problem with alcohol. Take the test to see if you have a problem. Above all be honest. You are only fooling yourself if you are not.
So what do you do if you find you have a problem with alcohol? The good news is that today, more help is available to treat alcoholism than ever before. This help comes in many forms.
GETTING HELP
Experts agree that one of the first things an alcoholic or drug addict should do is to get involved with a 12 step program like Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and has helped millions of people recover from this disease. AA’s main website can be reached at www.aa.org. You can find a meeting near you on the site as well as other information about the fellowship.
While most experts agree that AA should be the cornerstone of any alcohol recovery program, for some people it may not be enough to quit drinking entirely. Another alternative is to seek medical help.
Unfortunately, according to the Rush Institute of Recovery, more than 80 percent of physicians avoid addressing alcoholism with their patients. The primary reason is that many of these professionals are not equipped to manage the disease. This stems from a lack of time, training and expertise. Many physicians still incorrectly believe that alcoholism is a psychological problem, not a medical problem. Most physicians again wrongly believe that willpower alone can correct the problem. Most medical schools today spend little or no time addressing alcoholism or drug addiction.
If your family physician can’t help, the next step is to locate an alcohol detox or rehabilitation center near you. While facilities like Hazelden in Minnesota and The Betty Ford Clinic in California are probably the best known, there are literally thousands of these facilities in America today and there is one near you.
One such treatment center is the Parallax Center in New York City. Founded in 1984 by Dr. David M. Ockert, Parallax uses a multi pronged approach to treat alcoholism. Dr. Ockert has found that by using a combination of medication, one to one psychological counseling, and support from a 12 step program, a person’s chances of recovery is multiplied several fold.
While most Americans are not aware of it, drugs do exist to treat alcoholism. The best known of these drugs is Antabuse (Disulfiram) , which has been around since 1949. Antabuse discourages drinking by making the drinker feel nauseated if he or she continues to drink. In other words, if you are taking Antabuse and drink you will get sick to your stomach.
Another medication, Re Via (Naltraxone), which has been available since 1995, blocks the high or reinforcing effects of alcohol.
The newest drug on the alcohol cessation market is Campral (Acamprostate Calcium). Alcohol is believed to have wide-ranging effects on the chemicals in the brain. Excessive long-term use of alcohol can actually disrupt the balance of the brain's chemistry.
When a person stops drinking, his or her brain reacts to the absence of alcohol by sending out signals of stress and agitation. Campral is believed to help restore the chemical balance and prevent the feelings of discomfort associated with not drinking. Many people taking Campral report they spend much less time thinking about drinking. Campral, in combination with counseling and a 12 step support group, makes it easier for people not to drink.
Dr. Ockert maintains that in many patients, the combination of Antabuse and Campral, along with psychological counseling and a 12 step program vastly increases the patient’s chances of succeeding in their battle against alcoholism. Ockert says that just taking these medications without counseling or a 12 step program is like trying to build a house using only a hammer. You need all the tools available to get the best result.
It’s important to note that just using medication often times does not work. If a patient stops taking the medication they will most likely be right back to where they started. These medications do not address the emotional and often times psychological damage that occurs in alcoholism. In some cases if treatment stops drinking habits could and often do worsen. Remember, alcoholism has been determined to be a biological disease of the brain which translates into an obsession of the mind. The point is that without a 12 step group or professional counseling, medication alone will in most cases not fix the problem.
CONCLUSOIN
For many people afflicted with this disease, the battle against the bottle is a matter of life and death. Studies indicate that if left untreated, alcoholism will most likely kill or at the very least ruin the lives of those who suffer from it. This disease not only destroys the life of the drinker but that of the surrounding family as well. Help is there for those brave enough to seek it before it’s too late. Recovery occurs one day at a time. It’s a matter of life or death.
© copyright 2006, Lee Degenstein.
All rights reserved.
THE PROBLEM
By the time today is over, more than 7,000 children under the age of 18 will have had their first drink. Studies indicate that if a child has his or her first drink under the age of 15, their chances of becoming alcoholic later in life increase five fold.
Two years ago in New York City alone, 44% of all reported homicides according to the NYPD were alcohol or drug related. The figures in other large cities in America are pretty much the same. Alcohol dependence accounts for approximately 100,000 deaths per year in the United States.
The cost of alcohol dependence in this country is nearly $185 billion in direct and social costs per year. More than 70% of that cost is attributed to lost productivity. The numbers are similar for drug dependence.
So how many Americans are alcohol dependent? According to the National Council on Alcoholism, more than 18 million are alcohol dependent but only 2.4 million have been diagnosed with the disease and just 139,000 receive medication to treat it. The same data indicated that there are between 5.5 and 6 million Americans who are addicted to drugs. If you are getting the feeling that we have a big problem in this country, you have gotten the right feeling.
IT’S A DISEASE
I just used the word disease. Simply stated, alcoholism is a disease. Since 1956, the American Medical Association has categorized alcoholism as being a disease. Even so, more than 62% of Americans incorrectly think alcoholism is a moral weakness issue involving people with no willpower. Most feel it’s just a case of bad people doing bad things. 74% of us say alcohol has affected their lives in one way or another. A staggering 25% of children in this country live or lived with one parent who is alcohol dependent or abuses alcohol. I was one of those kids. In fact, depending on the data you read, approximately 45-50% of children of alcoholic parents become alcoholics later in life. Make no mistake, this is a genetic disease.
ARE YOU AN ALCOHOLIC?
So how do you know if you are an alcoholic? The National Council on Alcoholism has developed a 26 question test which will help you determine if you have a problem with alcohol. To see the test, copy and paste this link into your web browser, www.songdov.com/indexst.htm. Jokingly, several alcoholics who have started on the road to recovery by taking this very test say it is the only test they have ever taken where they got a perfect score. Many professionals will tell you that if you are asking yourself the question, “Am I an alcoholic”, you most likely have a problem with alcohol. Take the test to see if you have a problem. Above all be honest. You are only fooling yourself if you are not.
So what do you do if you find you have a problem with alcohol? The good news is that today, more help is available to treat alcoholism than ever before. This help comes in many forms.
GETTING HELP
Experts agree that one of the first things an alcoholic or drug addict should do is to get involved with a 12 step program like Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and has helped millions of people recover from this disease. AA’s main website can be reached at www.aa.org. You can find a meeting near you on the site as well as other information about the fellowship.
While most experts agree that AA should be the cornerstone of any alcohol recovery program, for some people it may not be enough to quit drinking entirely. Another alternative is to seek medical help.
Unfortunately, according to the Rush Institute of Recovery, more than 80 percent of physicians avoid addressing alcoholism with their patients. The primary reason is that many of these professionals are not equipped to manage the disease. This stems from a lack of time, training and expertise. Many physicians still incorrectly believe that alcoholism is a psychological problem, not a medical problem. Most physicians again wrongly believe that willpower alone can correct the problem. Most medical schools today spend little or no time addressing alcoholism or drug addiction.
If your family physician can’t help, the next step is to locate an alcohol detox or rehabilitation center near you. While facilities like Hazelden in Minnesota and The Betty Ford Clinic in California are probably the best known, there are literally thousands of these facilities in America today and there is one near you.
One such treatment center is the Parallax Center in New York City. Founded in 1984 by Dr. David M. Ockert, Parallax uses a multi pronged approach to treat alcoholism. Dr. Ockert has found that by using a combination of medication, one to one psychological counseling, and support from a 12 step program, a person’s chances of recovery is multiplied several fold.
While most Americans are not aware of it, drugs do exist to treat alcoholism. The best known of these drugs is Antabuse (Disulfiram) , which has been around since 1949. Antabuse discourages drinking by making the drinker feel nauseated if he or she continues to drink. In other words, if you are taking Antabuse and drink you will get sick to your stomach.
Another medication, Re Via (Naltraxone), which has been available since 1995, blocks the high or reinforcing effects of alcohol.
The newest drug on the alcohol cessation market is Campral (Acamprostate Calcium). Alcohol is believed to have wide-ranging effects on the chemicals in the brain. Excessive long-term use of alcohol can actually disrupt the balance of the brain's chemistry.
When a person stops drinking, his or her brain reacts to the absence of alcohol by sending out signals of stress and agitation. Campral is believed to help restore the chemical balance and prevent the feelings of discomfort associated with not drinking. Many people taking Campral report they spend much less time thinking about drinking. Campral, in combination with counseling and a 12 step support group, makes it easier for people not to drink.
Dr. Ockert maintains that in many patients, the combination of Antabuse and Campral, along with psychological counseling and a 12 step program vastly increases the patient’s chances of succeeding in their battle against alcoholism. Ockert says that just taking these medications without counseling or a 12 step program is like trying to build a house using only a hammer. You need all the tools available to get the best result.
It’s important to note that just using medication often times does not work. If a patient stops taking the medication they will most likely be right back to where they started. These medications do not address the emotional and often times psychological damage that occurs in alcoholism. In some cases if treatment stops drinking habits could and often do worsen. Remember, alcoholism has been determined to be a biological disease of the brain which translates into an obsession of the mind. The point is that without a 12 step group or professional counseling, medication alone will in most cases not fix the problem.
CONCLUSOIN
For many people afflicted with this disease, the battle against the bottle is a matter of life and death. Studies indicate that if left untreated, alcoholism will most likely kill or at the very least ruin the lives of those who suffer from it. This disease not only destroys the life of the drinker but that of the surrounding family as well. Help is there for those brave enough to seek it before it’s too late. Recovery occurs one day at a time. It’s a matter of life or death.
© copyright 2006, Lee Degenstein.
All rights reserved.
posted by Lee Degenstein | 6:33 AM
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