Social drinking on the decline?

From current sources (including Department of Health commissions) of alcohol consumption patterns it would appear that the number of people drinking socially is falling. Research shows that the number drinking at harmful levels now accounts for over 10 million people (appx 25 % of adult population) whereas the number of those abstaining from drinking has risen 50% in the last decade ! So where are the “cafe culture” social drinkers ??? – fast disappearing we think ! In fact when we talk to schoolchildren (and we talk to appx 10,000 Essex children a year) and ask them ” what do you understand by social drinking” They generally reply ” it’s something old people do” !!

Non drinkers up 50% in a decade

Levels of alcohol abstinence have increased from 10% in 1998 to 15% in 2009 (as measured by the General Household Survey General Lifestyle Survey). Alcohol abstainers make up a significant minority in many localities though they are often ignored in discussions about alcohol. The impact of alcohol abstainers must be considered in order to ensure that policies do not segregate major parts of some communities.
(JMU centre for public health)

Booze tightens it’s grip !

Almost 900 more people are admitted to hospital every day for drinking compared to five years ago, figures show.

A round-up of existing data shows there were 1.1 million admissions in England relating to alcohol in 2009/10 – 879 more per day than five years previously.

There is also wide variation across the country in rates of hospitalisation, with 3,114 admissions for alcohol per 100,000 people in Liverpool, dropping to 850 per 100,000 on the Isle of Wight.
Overall, in the five years to 2009/10, there was a 25% rise in the number of people admitted for reasons that were due to drinking.

Other figures show 7.6% of drinkers are now considered high risk, meaning they are at serious risk of jeopardising their health.

That is set against a backdrop of increasing numbers of people suffering and dying from chronic liver disease.

The report, from the North West Public Health Observatory at Liverpool John Moores University, also contains new estimates on the number of people in England who do not drink at all.

There are thought to be six million people over 16 who do not drink, with people from certain ethnic or religious backgrounds far more likely to abstain.

Other detail, drawn from official crime statistics, shows there were 392,787 crimes attributable to alcohol in 2010/11 – 7.6 crimes per 1,000 people.

The highest rates of crime linked to drinking by region occurred in London (11.7 crimes per 1,000 residents) while the north east had the lowest rate (5.7 per 1,000 residents).

Help for the addict that worked ?

This from a US addiction blog site to which we subscribe

The father is a recovered alcoholic…………

………Our biggest mistake was in trusting him. But we trusted him because we love him and because he had never lied to us before. Little lies? Sure. What kid hasn’t? A big lie, like drug use? No. Not to our knowledge. We were in denial and wanted to believe him. That wanting to trust, that need, that desire can be lethal.

Given my own dark past, I put the word out on him among the recovering addicts I know.

A simple question:

“I don’t care who’s dealing to him. I’m not trying to bust anybody. I just want to know what he’s taking. What’s his rep?”

Inside of a week, I had three reliable sources report that my son was known as a pot smoker, Ecstasy user, and a drinker. The Ecstasy worried us most, because that drug is chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine. At that point there was no more denying the obvious, and my wife and I had to take action. Here are five things we did. Let’s call them rules.

Rule One: Drug Test

It’s best to have a doctor administer a drug test, but we bought an over-the-counter drug test kit. Please keep in mind that drug tests, professionally administered or not, aren’t a hundred percent accurate, and teens also often find ways to beat these tests. Still, our son’s home drug test came up positive for THC and a benzodizepine, and he didn’t deny the results.

Rule Two: Consider Changing Schools

Remove the teenager from the drug environment and peer pressure. In this case, it meant changing schools, from public to private, and though it was an expensive move, and we’re not wealthy people, it was worth the sacrifice. In our small community, the only private high school is a Christian Academy, with small classes (12-15 students) and a zero-tolerance policy for drugs. There were, according to our son, “no cool kids,” which we took to mean non-drug users. Begrudgingly, however, he adapted to his new environment. I should add that in our initial meeting with the principal that we conveniently failed to mention his drug use for fear he’d be denied admission.

Rule Three: Attendance at A.A. and N.A. Meetings

Though he wasn’t an addict, he was well on his way. From honor student to nearly failing his freshman year means he was on the fast-track to the dark side. Since membership in Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous requires only a “desire to quit drinking (or using),” I took him to many meetings. It’s important for teen drug and alcohol abusers to see others their own age who are full-blown addicts and hear the horrific stories of where their drugging and drinking took them; and, most importantly, how when they cleaned up their act, they turned their lives around. In other words, he didn’t need to hit a deeper bottom before pulling back up.

Rule Four: Ground Rules and Curfews

We feared if we cut him off from all his old friends, including his girlfriend, that he’d rebel and we’d lose whatever little ground we’d gained. So we set some rules. If he went out, he had to be back by 11 PM, and he also had to agree to take a drug test the following morning. If he failed to meet the curfew or pass the drug test, he’d be grounded for a month and his cell phone taken away. One night he missed curfew, and Paula and I had to pick him up at his girlfriend’s house. When he got in the car, I could see he was high and smelled alcohol on his breath. The next morning he failed his drug test for benzodiazepines (this was frightening news, since taking tranquilizers and drinking can be a deadly cocktail).

To his credit, without much grumbling, he turned over his cell phone and accepted his grounding. In time, he lost contact with most of his old friends. Since he couldn’t get high, he didn’t feel – again to his credit – that there was much point in hanging out with them.

Rule Five: Spend More Time With Your Child

Paula and I both made a point of spending more time with our son. For her, that meant taking him to the movies, shopping, and lunches. For me, since he enjoys wrestling, that meant spending more time with him in training. The benefits we’ve reaped from including him more in our lives on a daily basis have been tremendous. At first, like most teenagers, he didn’t want to hang out with his parents, but that wore off after a couple of months, and now we’re closer than ever.

It’s been nearly a year since we first discovered our son was taking drugs and drinking, and except for the one time he broke curfew, every drug test we’ve since given him has come up negative. I’ve talked to him a lot about my own addiction and where it took me, and how, given our genetic link, he’s right in line to follow in my footsteps if he isn’t extremely careful. Now, since he’s been clean for nearly nine months, Paula and I feel he’s earned back our trust, at least enough to let him return to the public school (for a number of reasons, he’s not happy at the Christian Academy) and compete again in wrestling. He’s also well aware that from here on out our eyes will always be wide open.

Obviously we’re taking a chance.

But we believe in our child, as we must, just as we hope our child believes in us.

Related Links:
Parenting Troubled Teens
Alanon Helped Me Deal With My Addicted Child
Warning Signs of Drug Abuse
Time To Act

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Posted by James Brown / Filed under Addiction, Confronting Teens, Ecstasy, Family History, Family members, Treatment, Warning Signs, getting help / Comments: 0

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

Booze destroyed Kiera’s life before she was born – then killed her mum

Kiera Roebuck

Kiera Roebuck is seven, but alcohol has already destroyed her life. In fact, it ruined almost every chance she had of a normal life before she was even born.

While most pregnant women plan their diets meticulously, Kiera’s mum, Rachel, lived on vodka. She drank to excess during her pregnancy and, five months after Kiera was born, died of liver failure at 35.

The impact was catastrophic. Kiera was born at just 4lb with a cleft palate and unable to eat. She was fed through her stomach for the first two years of her life.

She was diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS, which has left her with brain damage, hearing and learning difficulties and hyperactivity, but it could have been so different if her mum had avoided drinking.

Parental alcohol abuse

parental alcohol misuse
By Joy Barlow

Community Care and Community Care Inform examine how children, young people and the entire family environment are affected. By Joy Barlow

Research shows that parental alcohol misuse can have a considerable negative effect on children, young people and the family. Children growing up in households where alcohol use is problematic often do not achieve their full potential in life. They may have low self-esteem, feel unsafe and find it difficult to engage in relationships, illustrating a lack of trust often into adulthood. Such profound effects may impact on the five outcomes of the Every Child Matters framework.

In addition, alcohol misuse is often hidden by parents, by family members and by children themselves. This can have serious consequences for children, including (but not limited to) poor educational attainment, emotional difficulties, neglect, abuse and taking on inappropriate caring responsibilities. Alcohol misuse is also linked with family disharmony and violence.

“Parental alcohol misuse damages and disrupts the lives of children and families in all areas of society, spanning all social classes; it blights the lives of whole families and harms the development of children trapped by the effects of their parents’ problematic drinking”

Suicide and Alcohol

There have been renewed calls for minimum pricing on alcohol in Northern Ireland, after a report found that the link between drinking and suicide in young people cannot be ignored.

Over 300 youths took their own lives in the region last year – the highest ever total.

The report, ‘Suicide and Homicide in Northern Ireland’, found that drugs and alcohol are fuelling the problem, made worse by mental illness and social deprivation.

It said the number of suicide cases involving binge drinking in Northern Ireland was 60%, which is higher than anywhere else in the UK.

“Alcohol dependence was also the most common clinical diagnosis in patients convicted of homicide, with more than half known to have a problem prior to conviction,” research author Professor Louis Appleby said.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in NI said the study underlines the need for minimum alcohol pricing.