A 2015 study involving 561 students found that children who drank alcohol before sixth grade were more likely to abuse alcohol when they reached ninth grade. Click each of the myths below to show the facts about alcohol. Problem drinking is not about what you drink, but how it affects your life. For example, if you can answer “yes” to any two of the following statements, drinking may be causing you problems. Here at Intrepid Recover Center, not only will we help get you started on the path to recovery, but we’ll make sure that you stay on the right path every single step of the way. Our knowledge on this topic comes from many years of experience.

We hope we can start changing the perception of what recovery really looks like. Every Google search seems to bring in another reason “why” I am an alcoholic accompanied with the latest and greatest get well now with some miraculous new remedy. People with higher socioeconomic status may be more likely even to drink more than people from under-resourced communities. Even if you never drank that much when you were young, you can have problems with drinking as you get older.

Alcoholism Myth #5: An alcoholic must want to be helped in order for treatment to be effective.

Alcoholism is a disease that we can’t see or often understand unless we’ve experienced it ourselves. All we can see are the repercussions and impact it leaves on the addicts and their loved ones. As a result, it’s easy to believe misconceptions about this invisible disease — but these false perceptions can ultimately be damaging to both recovery and relationships. Let’s take a closer look at some of these myths about alcohol and uncover the actual truth behind them. There are so many misconceptions about alcoholics, and this is one of the biggest ones. People believe that there’s no coming back from intense alcoholism, and if you’re an alcoholic you’ve somehow hit “rock bottom”, meaning that life simply cannot get any worse.

• And when your ability to make decisions is impaired, you’re no longer in control.
• Once you stop drinking, the body will crave that substance more and more, making it even harder for people to quit after they’ve become dependent.
• Whether it be on the weekends or just a few days a week, a person’s heavy drinking patterns are what describes alcoholism.
• It is a frustrating issue for everyone who is affected by alcoholism, even if they are not alcoholics themselves.
• However, this attitude may contribute to many myths about alcohol and alcohol use disorder.
• You may think that drinking can help alleviate pain, but evidence suggests that chronic drinking can worsen pain levels.

Many alcoholics become very skilled in hiding their own alcohol problem, so it is not uncommon for someone with an alcohol addiction to skirt by unnoticed. One nontraditional form of treatment for alcohol use disorder is moderation management. This approach involves limiting alcohol consumption, specifically for people who aren’t physically dependent on alcohol. What is a healthy range of drinking for men and women age 65 years or older?

Myth #1: If an alcoholic could just stop drinking, everything would be okay.

You may have heard myths about alcohol and alcohol use disorder presented as facts. While some myths might be more harmful than others, it’s essential to understand the realities of alcohol and alcohol use disorder. If you or someone you know suffers from alcoholism, or another type of addiction, contact us today to learn how we can get you the help that you need to live a happy, healthy, and sober life. For whatever reason, there’s this misconception out there that if someone gets too drunk they can just drink some coffee and it will fix them right up. If you are drunk, nothing will sober you up except the time it takes to pass the alcohol through your body. All types of addictions can be dangerous to a person’s health regardless of the substance or even the activity.

Even if a person’s problem begins with wine or beer, there’s a high chance they may end up on the wrong path. Drinking only wine and beer doesn’t make the situation better; this is just one of many alcohol myths. As one of the many alcohol myths, this one in particular is an untrue idea.

People Who Suffer from Alcohol Addiction Have Hit “Rock Bottom”

When it comes to addiction and alcoholism, no two cases are the same. While attending a 12-step program like AA may work for some people, for others, a more individualized treatment method may work better. There’s not a clear-cut path for overcoming addiction and there are plenty https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/5-reasons-sobriety-tattoos-are-a-terrible-idea/ of treatment programs and methods available to you and your loved ones. Many people may believe the myth that loading up on bread, heavy foods, or even drinking coffee will lower your blood alcohol level. The truth is that time passing is the only way for alcohol to wear off.

• People believe that there’s no coming back from intense alcoholism, and if you’re an alcoholic you’ve somehow hit “rock bottom”, meaning that life simply cannot get any worse.
• Alcoholism and addiction are more complex and complicated than simply what a person drinks.

This might be the most common as well as one of, if not the biggest alcohol myths. Most people assume that those suffering from alcoholism are doing so by choice. They think that they are just choosing to continue to drink to the point that it becomes a problem and can just stop whenever they feel like it.

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However, it will not improve your coordination or decision-making skills. These can be impaired for several hours after you stop drinking. This is why it is never safe to drive after you have been drinking, no matter how many cups of coffee you have.

But there’s still a lot of misinformation about alcohol and alcohol use disorder. If you are drunk, nothing will help make you sober except time. Your body needs time to break down the alcohol in your system.

Myth 7

It keeps us from seeing alcoholism in our families and friends, or at our jobs. It’s important to cut through the alcoholism myths and learn the facts. If it were a behavior problem, many very strong-willed alcoholic people I know would have stopped drinking long ago. Here are some of the myths around alcoholism that still prevail today, along with my experience.

As a person gets older, certain factors may contribute to alcohol being more sensitive to them. Many people who abuse alcohol start from an early age; this continues as they grow older. Alcoholism is a disease that affects the person drinking and everyone around them. Close family, friends, co-workers, children, and peers can all be affected by a person’s drinking problem. Watching a loved one change for the worse and become a completely different person can be a painful and stressful situation. This can have a direct impact on their mental health and thoughts on the person.

Alcoholism Myth #6: Confronting and shaming an alcoholic is the best way to get him or her to stop drinking.

A person can suffer from alcoholism if they drink up to 14 drinks a week (14 for men, seven for women) or three to four drinks a day. Heavy drinking and alcoholism are characterized by how much a person drinks not when they drink. Whether it be on the weekends or just a few days a week, a person’s heavy drinking patterns are what describes alcoholism. To someone who has not struggled with alcoholism myths about alcoholism or addiction it can be easy to assume that the solution to quitting is to just have willpower. People tend to think that just quitting ‘cold turkey’ is easy, and anyone who is not able to successfully do so is simply lazy, dumb, or does not want it badly enough. However, if it were that easy to simply quit when drinking became a problem, there wouldn’t be alcoholics or addicts in this world.

Because they routinely turn to alcohol to face their issues, they become dependent on it. Dependency occurs when the body gets used to the substance you’ve introduced. Once you stop drinking, the body will crave that substance more and more, making it even harder for people to quit after they’ve become dependent.