Alcohol abuse, Hangovers and Detoxification
Christmas and the New Year are traditional times when most people feel justified in partaking of the pleasures of alcohol after a long year of pressures brought on by financial worries, job problems, families, bullying at home, work or school, boredom, etc. Some controlled amount of drinking will indeed refresh somebody who is rather run down with the pressures of life, but Xmas parties, great supermarket deals on alcohol and the incessant marketing push at Christmas for people to squeeze that last pound out of their bank account and / or credit cards often leads to binge drinking.
The first immediate result of the binge drinking is the increase in family arguments, abuse of children and family members and can lead to a vicious hangover.
Hangovers
A hangover is a commonly used term for the very unpleasant physical effects which include fatigue, dry throat, headache, sleep disruption, dizziness, short temper , sickness, vertigo, etc that often follow excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs and it may last for several days after alcohol was consumed. Hangovers are cumulative and if the sufferer believes the Old Wives tales about taking more alcohol to cure a hangover, the person's health can become seriously affected which could lead to depression, mental health problems and further alcohol addiction.
Hangovers are a mild temporary version of what drug or alcohol addicts suffer when they experience withdrawal symptoms. Several bad bouts of drinking can then lead to hangovers and withdrawal problems. Hangover symptoms can be effectively reduced by drinking several large glasses of water before going to sleep after drinking heavily and lots of extra water the day after. Having a fried breakfast after a heavy drinking session is supposed to be quite effective in limiting the hangover but it may cause more stress on the body organs such as the heart.
What comes next after the hangover? Well, depending on the person, they could go down any of the following routes:
• They could become remorseful and see the error of their ways, try to make amends with family and friends, and try to resolve to either never drink again or to seriously check the amount of alcohol consumed – New Year's resolutions abound but very few are pursued for more than a few days / weeks.
• They could turn to drink even more in an attempt to blot out their problems in life and the way that they are dealing with them.
• They could feel that alcohol is not in itself the answer to all their problems and that perhaps it needs just a little help from additional things such as cigarettes, drugs, gambling etc.
If things start to get out of control for somebody who is turning to alcohol in excess, they may well need some help with detoxification.
Detoxification
Detoxification is essential to the well-being of a person who has let alcohol take over their lives; it is the process of helping a patient safely withdraw from the dependence on alcohol or drugs, usually under the supervision of a skilled professional. Detoxification will not address the fundamental psychological, social, and behavioral problems that caused the initial dependency on the alcohol and or drugs, but it is very helpful in giving the patient sufficient help so that they may develop enough willpower after that to help themselves long-term.
Detoxification is a naturally occurring ongoing process that takes place continuously within body organs such as the kidneys, liver, lymph, intestines, blood, and in every cell; detoxification is encouraged by stimulation of the four organs that deal with the elimination of waste toxins - skin, lungs, kidneys and intestines. Detoxification is now generally recognized to be essential in our health care and for helping fight against aging.