Alcohol addiction is a serious problem that can take a toll on your mental health and physical well-being. Treatment can help you overcome your alcohol abuse and get back on track to a full life.
Drinking alcohol can cause you to lose control of your behavior and make it harder for you to think clearly. It can also affect your relationships, finances and health.
Mental Health
Mental health affects a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and it determines how they interact with others and make decisions. It also influences how they handle stress and their ability to cope with everyday challenges.
People with a mental illness often self-medicate with alcohol to alleviate symptoms, but this can have serious consequences and can lead to addiction. Depression is a common mental health disorder and it can be treated effectively with therapy and medication.
Similarly, anxiety can be helped with the use of medication and behavioral therapies. Having a healthy relationship with friends and family can help reduce symptoms and make recovery easier.
Co-occurring disorders are very common, with about half of adults age 18 and older suffering from a serious mental disorder experiencing an alcohol or drug dependency at the same time. Treatment for mental illness and alcohol addiction often requires a comprehensive approach, and many treatment professionals are trained in both areas.
Physical Health
Physical health can be affected by alcohol addiction in both short-term and long-term ways. This depends on a variety of factors including drinking frequency and quality, genetics, nutrition, metabolism, and social habits.
Short-term effects of alcohol can include hangovers, dehydration, irritability, and loss of coordination. These problems are typically associated with heavy drinking, but can occur at any level of drinking.
Long-term effects of alcohol use can include a weakened immune system, chronic heart disease, and an increase in cancers. Drinking can also cause problems with the brain, such as memory loss and problems with attention, executive functioning and impulsivity.
People who suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder are more likely to develop an alcohol addiction. Combining alcohol with medication used to treat these conditions can intensify the negative side effects of both substances.
Social Relationships
Social relationships are the voluntary or involuntary interpersonal links between two or more people, individually or within/between groups. They are the basic analytical construct used in the social sciences and are central to sociology.
Sociologists study the way people make sense of their lives. They focus on face-to-face interaction, examining how people determine their relationships.
Relationships are defined by symbols, which are the ways people identify themselves and others. Without these symbols, our social life would be no more sophisticated than that of animals.
Good social relationships are important for long-term health and wellbeing. These include family, friends and workplace relationships. If your social relationships are strained, you may be more likely to experience depression, anxiety and stress.
Family Relationships
Family relationships are central to individual well-being and can have long-lasting impacts across the life course (Elder, Johnson, Crosnoe, 2003). These connections offer a sense of belonging, a social network, and tangible resources that support well-being throughout the lifespan.
However, alcohol abuse has the potential to damage relationships and lead to a number of problems within families affected by alcohol addiction. These issues can include domestic violence, emotional and physical abuse, neglect, and financial stress.
One of the biggest negative consequences of alcohol addiction is that it can destroy a family's finances. Not only do alcoholics have to pay for their own drinking but they also incur costs due to illness, accidents and arrests.
In addition, a spouse or other family member who is an alcoholic often lies about their income to cover up the alcohol abuse. This kind of infidelity can increase relationship strain and resentment among the rest of the family. Treatment for a loved one with an alcohol problem requires that each family member buy-in to the treatment process.
