Do you know someone who perhaps drinks a little too much alcohol? Is that you? My guess, especially at this time of year is we all know quite a few.
Over the last few months I have noticed a real spike in clients coming to me for help with reducing their alcohol intake. Maybe it’s a that time of year thing or perhaps its the emotional or financial duress or a combination of the two.
Which ever it is, it is becoming more and more apparent that alcohol becomes a problem when the following things are occurring regularly and in unison. Perhaps look through the list detailed below and see if would put a tick against many of these and the use that to judge for yourself ….
- Drinking getting out of control
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Spending too much on alcohol
- Boredom drinking
- Stressed and drinking
- Weight gain from over drinking
- Alcohol is affecting your relationships
- Binge drinking
- Drinking alcohol on your own
- Thinking that only a few drinks per week is unrealistic
- Have an overwhelming need for alcohol
- Waking in the middle of the night due to alcohol
- Using alcohol to get to sleep
- Determined on a Monday to drink less this week
- Feeling hung over and groggy is spoiling your weekend
- Can’t remember much of the night before
- Ashamed of your behaviour
- Offended people whilst you were drunk
- Aggressive or angry when you drink
- Your children are unhappy with your alcohol drinking
- Worried about your long term health
The sad thing is sometimes we don’t even realise the problem is there or we are not ready to tackle it until it really is a big issue, either hurting ourselves or our loved ones.
So what are some of those risks, the physical ones, the ones that damage us long-term? These are just a few, caused over time and through excessiveness or bingeing:
- High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Stroke, Liver Disease, and Digestive problems
- Breast Cancer, Mouth Cancer, Throat Cancer, Oesophagus Cancer, Liver Cancer, and Colon Cancer
- Learning and memory problems, including Dementia
- Mental health problems, including Depression and Anxiety
- Social problems, including lost productivity, family problems, unemployment
- Alcohol Dependence, or Alcoholism.
Yet despite all this, in Australia today …
- Alcohol is the most widely used drug (yes it is a drug of choice)
- Alcohol costs society $15.3b annually
- 1 in 10 workers say they have experienced the negative effects of a co-worker’s use of alcohol.
So what do you do about it? How do you help yourself or your loved ones? Well, whether it’s with myself or another qualified therapist, find someone that you trust, someone that you are comfortable with and can assist you to learn to drink less. Hypnotherapy (and yes, I will be biased) is AMAZING, its so very effective for change and personal growth. Its passive, its relaxing, it trickles into every facet of our life that we need positive change but most of all it works – IF you want to get better, healthier and happier.
The drink less alcohol sessions I offer are not for alcoholics, that is a very separate and effective treatment process. At this time of year, what is apparent is there is a big need for people to recognise that their drinking interferes with their lives in negative ways. It creates procrastination, and can accelerate stress, anxiety, low self esteem and depression.
In our Australian culture we are renown for our culture of drinkers, and rightly or wrongly many people use alcohol as an emotional crutch. But what is important to remember now is, alcohol doesn’t have to cause havoc, it doesn’t have to be such extremes that have the capacity to cause us harm. The desire to drink more than we would like too or should is an emotional habit.
Yet through Hypnosis an emotional habit can be unlearnt. Instead you can learn to still be able to enjoy alcohol but at a reduced level that reminds us to still be accountable, happy and healthy. Contact Soulworks Therapies today.
