Maybe it started off slowly – a drink here, a drink there. What used to be a drink a week morphs into a drink every other day, then a drink every day. And now, all you can think about is getting to the bar at the end of the workday to drink the night away.
Don’t you want the hangovers to end? The depression and fits of rage that comes with drinking? Isn’t it time to get out of the bottle and get your life back?
Wavelengths Recovery has been helping those who have been fighting alcoholism for decades. We know how difficult the struggle is – this is why we try to provide a healthy, supportive, and structured environment that allows participants to learn what triggers their addiction and how we can help them pick up the pieces of their lives and reclaim their sobriety.
How Do I Know I Have an Alcohol Problem?
Most people don’t notice when their alcohol consumption escalates from moderate social drinking into full-blown alcohol addiction. It’s something important to watch as approximately 16 million people in the United States have a medical condition known as alcohol use disorder. That’s about six percent of the population, and it’s a problem that is global in reach. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes 3.3 million deaths annually from alcohol and its effects.
How do you know if your drinking has become a problem? The American Psychiatric Association suggests watching for drinking habits that lead to significant impairment or distress by answering the following questions:
- Do you need large quantities of alcohol to feel intoxicated?
- Do you feel nauseous or anxious, have trouble sleeping and experience tremors when you reduce or abstain from drinking?
- Do you look back and realize you’ve consumed more alcohol over a longer period of time than you intended to drink?
- Are you continually trying to cut back on your drinking but fail to do so?
- Do you spend considerable time drinking or recovering from drinking?
- Do you find yourself withdrawing from work responsibilities, recreational or social activities?
- Do you drink even though you know that alcohol is harming you?
Excessive drinking is a risk factor for a number of health problems including memory loss, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, stomach disorders, pancreatitis, brain damage, and liver disease.
The use of alcohol is often a factor in injuries and deaths from car accidents and is often found in drownings. It increases the likelihood of dangerous behavior including harming other people or suicidal tendencies. It can result in job loss, families being torn apart, and relationships ending.
Alcohol Detoxification
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be quite severe. Consistent, heavy drinkers may need medical supervision to get through the initial withdrawal and detox stage.
Depending on one’s alcohol dependency they may go through phases of withdrawal:
- Phase one: Typically lasting a week, symptoms start to build up — peaking around day 3. Mild alcoholics may feel a headache, sweating, nausea, and anxiety. Severe alcoholics may experience the prior, plus panic attacks, tremors, or delirium tremens.
- Phase two: Symptoms start subsiding, minor and less intense issues may still be present.
- Phase three: Mild to moderate drinkers are likely free of symptoms beyond cravings. Severe drinkers may experience post-acute withdrawal syndrome for up to a year, causing fatigue, anxiety, and slowed motor skills.
Taking care of your health through the detox period of alcohol withdrawal is crucial to long-term wellness. Proper diet, exercise, and other methods can improve your physical well-being and overall confidence in your ability to stay sober.
In some circumstances, medications may be used during the withdrawal period and beyond.
Click this link to learn more about alcohol detox at Wavelengths.
How Wavelengths Recovery Can Help
At Wavelengths Recovery, we offer a comprehensive alcohol addiction treatment plan to help you get back on a path of sobriety. Our mission is to help you overcome addiction and its path of destruction, operating from an each-one-teach-one model. Our holistic programs, combined with an expert team of alcohol addiction treatment specialists, counselors, nutritionists, and others will help you get back to the person you once were before the alcohol took control of your life. Wavelengths is a place where active participants can work with us to get their lives and their health back.
Alcohol addiction is a disease that causes people to repeatedly take actions, despite the fact that those actions are likely to have negative results. It requires treatment and recovery to attain a healthy life. Don’t try to face it alone. Wavelengths is here to help. Contact an addiction specialist now and put the pieces of your life back together.
Wavelengths’ Huntington Beach Alcohol Rehab Centers
Our founder Warren Boyd has been helping people struggling with alcoholism for decades. His leadership has helped us establish an unmatched treatment experience at our Huntington Beach alcohol rehabs. At our Orange County, CA facilities, we are able to provide alcohol detoxification for those who need 24/7 care through their alcohol withdrawal period.
Check out our Huntington Beach Rehab Centers to learn more about our comprehensive care and treatment services.
