Facts About Alcohol Abuse
Many people feel that Alcohol isn’t a drug, and that even drinking to excess is fine because it’s something that “everyone does” so what’s the harm? Most people perceive that alcohol use is a socially acceptable activity – compare that with the fact that over 80% of the youth of America will consume alcohol before their 21st birthday. It’s also pretty easy to feel that way when you don’t know any of the facts about alcohol abuse. The number one fact about alcohol abuse is that alcohol is the #1 misused drug in the US – that’s right, DRUG.
One of the harshest facts about alcohol abuse is that every year about 5,000 people UNDER the legal drinking age of 21 will die from an incident that is alcohol-related. This not only includes car crashes, but homicides, suicides, and alcohol poisonings too. Approximately two-thirds of high school students who do drink will binge drink, and another sad fact about alcohol abuse is that alcohol can impair the drinker’s judgment, and can then lead to drinking and driving, unintended and unprotected sexual activity, violence and other kinds of dangerous behavior. Also, it’s a fact that the younger you are when you start drinking the more likely you are to have a problem with alcohol.
Did you know that another of the important facts about alcohol abuse is that it can lead to a variety of long-term health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, liver disease, dementia, cancers of the throat, liver or mouth or even anxiety and depression? Here’s another of the important facts about alcohol abuse – did you know that the roughly 80,000 deaths each year in the US related to alcohol abuse makes it the third highest cause of death in the US?
Did you know that not only does alcohol NOT relieve depression, but it is actually a depressant and can most likely make it worse? Another sobering fact is that a third of suicides are associated with alcohol misuse. Did you also know that college students spend more money on alcohol than they do on books? In fact in a recent study, 31% of students met the criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse in the past 12 months.
And women, listen up to this – one of the most terrible facts about alcohol abuse: More than three quarters of female victims of a nonfatal domestic violence incident reported that their assailant had been drinking or using drugs. Even worse? Alcohol is the number one date rape drug, period. The final of the sobering facts about alcohol abuse that is important to let people know about is that it is a disease – you likely cannot help that you are abusing it, and if you seek help, statistics show that you have up to a 70% chance of beating it. Think positive, and take that first step.
