Alcohol Addiction in South Padre Island, TX
If you are currently struggling with an alcohol addiction in South Padre Island, you may find yourself feeling as if you are all alone in your struggle and strife. However, there are millions of other people all across the nation and around the world, as well as many in South Padre Island, that are having the same difficulties and issues that you are experiencing. Alcoholism is a serious and pervasive problem that can affect people of any age, background, and lifestyle. As a person trying to deal with an alcohol addiction in South Padre Island, it is important to get to know more about what alcohol addiction actually is and does to a person so that you can then seek out the help and care of an alcohol addiction treatment center or drug and alcohol rehab to get you the assistance you need to manage and overcome your alcohol addiction.
An alcohol addiction is a disease, one that affects a person mind, body, and soul in profound and complicated ways. The common thing that people get wrong about alcohol addiction in South Padre Island as well as around the world is that they think alcohol abuse and addiction are due to mental weaknesses or poor willpower. But the reality is that alcohol addiction, just like other drug addictions, is a medical condition, one that has a biological component to it. This means that sheer strength of will or "mind over matter" is not sufficient to overcome an addiction to alcohol. It requires the help of professional addiction treatment in South Padre Island and guided care to be properly handled. You would not treat diabetes or a tumor by trying to think it away with the power of your mind, and you should consider alcohol addiction to be a disease just like those other conditions.
Dangers of Alcohol
There are numerous angers of alcohol both in the short-term and the long-term. When people abuse alcohol, they often do so by binge drinking. Binge drinking is the consumption of alcohol at rapid rates and generally is measured in the number of alcoholic beverages consumed in a one to two-hour time period. For women, it only takes three to four alcoholic beverages in a few hours to be binge drinking and for men, the number is four to five.
When a person binge drinks, their blood alcohol levels elevate rapidly, which in turn has a major impact on their judgment, motor functions, memory, and more. Binge drinking is dangerous not only because of the potential of alcohol poisoning, but also because people that have been binge drinking could engage in reckless behavior such as driving while intoxicated, they could stumble and fall causing themselves serious injuries, and they could pass out or black out leaving themselves vulnerable to malicious acts by others.
Alcohol abuse can also have more long-term effects on a person's mental and physical health. Memory problems and cognitive impairment can become worse and may even be permanent from alcohol abuse and addiction. Liver and kidney damage are also quite common in people with a history of alcohol abuse and liver failure, cancer, and kidney malfunctions can all occur. People that abuse alcohol are also at increased risk of heart disease, heart attack, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Every year in the United States, around 88,000 people die due to alcohol-related causes. And according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, just under 10,000 people were killed in 2014 due to alcohol-impaired driving. Alcohol abuse and addiction are dangerous both to the person abusing the alcohol and to the people around them, and can have major lifelong or life-ending impacts. This is why it is better to get into drug and alcohol rehab in South Padre Island for your alcohol addiction sooner rather than later. The earlier you seek out the help of an alcohol addiction treatment center, the sooner you will be able to get your addiction under control and hopefully prevent some of the more serious side effects of alcohol abuse from affecting you.
Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Addiction
When a person develops an alcohol addiction, they begin to show numerous signs and symptoms that something has changed in their mind and body. Some of the signs and symptoms most commonly reported to drug and alcohol rehab centers include:
- Cravings for alcohol
- Increased tolerance
- Secretive behavior
- Smelling of alcohol
- Slurred or confused speech
- Glassy and watery eyes
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Hidden alcohol around the house
- Problems at work or school
- Changed sleep patterns
- Agitation
If you have an alcohol addiction in South Padre Island, now is the time to seek out help from an alcohol addiction treatment center. The sooner you do so, the sooner you can get into a drug and alcohol rehab program and the sooner you will be able to begin your journey down the road to recovery. Call now for help (877) 804-1531.