Alcohol can do some pretty bad things to the people that drink it, as well as to other people in their lives. Obviously, if you are only have a couple beers on the weekend with friends, or wine glass of wine with fancy dinners, you don’t have a problem. But, when that one glass or couple beers leads to four or more, you could have an issue.
With alcohol there is more than one way to have a drinking problem. You could be binge drinking, having too many drinks in one sitting. You could be an addict, you have to have that drink. Or, you could be someone that is using alcohol to stop feeling pain or depression.
No matter why you are drinking, if you do have a drinking problem it could be affecting your family, and your health.
Teens And Alcohol
First of all, if you have teens and pre-teens in your family, it pays to pay attention. Kids experiment, and still suffer from peer pressure, which can lead to experimenting with alcohol at a young age. This use can lead to addiction as an adult.
Talk to your kids about alcohol use and abuse. Teach them that they can have fun without drinking or getting drunk. But, you need to let your own actions speak for you as well, as children of alcoholics often become alcoholics themselves.
Your Family Life
Not only could your drinking turn your children into drinkers, it could also be affecting other aspects of your family life. It could cause relationship and spousal issues, among other things. If you get arrested for drunk driving, or cause an accident drunk driving, you will spend time in jail.
If your drinking causes you to do bad things or have angry outbursts it could split up your marriage, you could lose your children, and you could end up alone. It can also cause you to lose friends, or alienate yourself from many situations.
Your Job
Alcohol could also cause you to lose your job, whether you’re drinking on the job, showing up still drunk, or simply becoming sloppy or forgetful because of the effects of your addiction. If your attitude has changed at work and you get angry or moody, you could say the wrong thing to someone.
Without a job it’s harder to afford that alcohol as well. That could lead to stealing and, possibly, jail time for that, if you get caught.
Effects Of Alcohol On The Body
The damage drinking does to your life isn’t the only issue. It’s also damaging your body. Not only does alcohol mess up your liver, and can cause permanent damage and cirrhosis of the liver, but it is also hurting your brain and memory, as well as other things.
According to this infographic, alcohol can have negative effects on your body almost from head to toe. It’s bad on your heart, and can even cause issues in the bedroom.
Don’t ignore all of the bad things about drinking just because it gives you that initial feel good high. It’s as bad for you as any other drug, and there is help out there.
