Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is a serious problem that has many physical and legal ramifications. Health wise, alcohol can destroy your liver, your immune system and cause your skin to dry from the inside out. You are more prone to illness, more apt to have dementia, and if you somehow manage to avoid all of these issues, your general lifespan will, more than likely, be shortened significantly.
Legally, alcohol addiction can lead to criminal activity and more commonly being arrested for driving under the influence. Drunk drivers are more apt to cause an accident when behind the wheel of a car than any other demographic of driver.
Of course, with a DUI arrest, the person with the addiction faces many financial problems if they are convicted. States impose heavy fines for this type of offense. The driver, if convicted, may also face jail time. They will pay more for car insurance when their license is reinstated, and they may even face job loss due to their conviction. “Your choice of DWI lawyer can have a great impact on your DWI case,” says attorney Evan Levow.
There Is Help
Thankfully, those who have an alcohol addiction do not have to stay an addict for their entire life. There are several treatments that are available to help break the addiction. Sometimes it takes several attempts to break the habit, other times it can be conquered right away. The only thing that will matter is that the person wants to stop.
• 12 Step Programs
Many people battling alcoholism find that a daily support group is all they need to battle their desire to consume alcohol. These groups meet several times each day in different locations throughout any given area. There is no cost to attend, and members will find that they will quickly make friends and gain their support.
• Rehabilitation Center
Some people will find that the only way they can battle their addiction is in a very controlled environment. These rehabilitation centers focus on helping the addict change how they thin and handle everyday situations so that they can cope without using alcohol as a crutch.
• Body Detox
Another method of alcohol treatment involves body cleansing and detoxification and counseling. People using this method opt to use natural medicines to rid all of the toxins from their body and use therapy to gain insight into their problems and how to deal with them. It is their belief that the addiction is also physical and that by cleansing the body, they destroy the addiction. While a little unusual, this type of addiction treatment has been very successful.
No one wakes up one morning and decides that they want to have an alcohol addiction. It is something that occurs over time. Most of the time, a person with an alcohol addiction does not even realize they have a real problem until they find themselves very sick or in legal trouble.
The good news is that help is available; all that needs to happen is a desire to make the change from daily dependency to freedom. Once that decision is made, with the help of one or more of these support programs, anyone can overcome alcohol addiction.
Molly Pearce is a southern author and artist who often shares on health-related topics and issues relevant to today’s modern family. She draws from personal experience and web-based research from trusted medical and legal sites, such as that of Evan Levow, a DWI attorney, when creating her posts.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/8686574743