The Dangers of Drinking Alcohol Alone
In the UK, there is a big culture surrounding drinking. Particularly the normalisation of binge drinking when with others.
While abusing alcohol under any circumstances is never recommended, it is better than if you were to drink the same amount when you are out with your friends when you are alone.
Drinking alone shows that you do not want others who care about you to see how much you really drink and worry about you. It means that deep down, you know your actions are unhealthy, but you carry on regardless.
When you drink alone, you put yourself at a greater risk of the following:
- Drunk driving
- Passing out and choking on your own vomit
- Getting assaulted by strangers
- Being kidnapped or otherwise harmed
- Over drinking to the point of alcohol poisoning
- Committing illegal acts while drunk, such as public urination
If you are drinking alone regularly, you are at even greater risk of all these.
Many people drink alone because they are unhappy or living with a mental illness such as anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder.
A big danger that comes from drinking large amounts of alcohol alone is that it can heavily impact your impulse control. Specifically making you more willing to do things you may not normally consider.
This includes people, unfortunately, giving in to suicidal thoughts.
Drinking alone is dangerous and is a sign that you don’t just enjoy a drink with your friends. But that it is instead something that is getting out of control and you need help with at alcohol rehab.
There is help available, and you must know that no matter how you feel, no matter how low you get. You are not alone. There are people who care about you and want to see you do well.
You just need to reach out and ask for their help – call today at 01908 489 421.
Do I Have an Alcohol Addiction if I Drink Alone?
Not necessarily, as having the occasional drink alone is perfectly normal. It is only an alcohol addiction when you drink to access.
It is recommended that you don’t drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week. However, if you are regularly exceeding, this is maybe time to evaluate if you don’t want to stop drinking or if you can stop drinking.
Alcohol is both a psychological and physical addiction. This means that if you go too long between drinks, you may start to experience withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Paranoia
- Mood swings
- Delirium
- Hallucinations
- Aggression
- Irritability
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Muscle spasm
- Diarrhoea
- Fever
- Light sensitivity
- Dehydration
- Seizures
These symptoms can prove deadly if experienced when you are on your own.
It is recommended that you never allow yourself to experience withdrawal symptoms unless you are in the safety of a medical facility such as a hospital or an alcohol rehab centre.
Addiction is a complex condition that requires you to accept that you are struggling and need help.
Any treatments available to you can only work for someone if they are willing to put in the work and change their life for the better.
If you think you have an addiction, then the best place for you is an alcohol rehab centre. You just have to take the first step and admit that you have an alcohol addiction and need help.
At Asana Lodge, we are happy to provide you with this help – call today on 01908 489 421 or fill out our contact form.
Negative Impacts of Drinking by Yourself
Regularly drinking by yourself and continuing to live with an alcohol addiction can lead to you experiencing many dangerous long term and short term effects.
The short-term negative impacts include:
- Risk of losing your job
- Alienating your friends and family
- Risk of losing where you live
- Risk of alcohol poisoning
- Risk of drunk driving accident
- Erectile dysfunction
The long-term impacts can be just as severe and include:
- Higher chance of developing some cancers
- Heart failure
- Liver failure
- Kidney failure
- Loss of fertility
- Higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia
There are little to no benefits to drinking alone, and it simply enables you to continue your destructive behaviour without the intervention of someone that would try to stop you.
But you don’t have to live this way. There is help available for you and all you have to do to access it is to acknowledge that you have a problem at private rehab.
As soon as you do that, we can help you start working towards a happier and healthier sober future and eventually long-term recovery.
Help For Alcohol Addiction
At Asana Lodge, we have years of experience helping people overcome alcohol addictions.
The recovery process in theory is quite simple and straightforward. That is because we do everything in our power to make you as comfortable as possible while you focus on getting better.
The best way for you to get help for your addiction is by working through the various treatments in an alcohol addiction centre.
The first treatment you will receive will be the alcohol detox. The detox is a process that will take around ten days to complete, and it is designed to rid your body of all toxins, which include alcohol.
During this time, you will experience some withdrawal symptoms, but there is nothing to worry about. You will be monitored day and night by a team of fully qualified medical professionals who are there to ensure that you are perfectly safe.
They will provide you with medication to relieve your withdrawal symptoms so that they never have a chance to progress to a point of danger.
Once you have completed the detox, you will have a fresh start. You won’t need to worry about experiencing withdrawals again so long as you avoid alcohol from that point on. You will be able to focus now on the rest of your treatments without the distraction of your cravings.
Following this, you will begin therapy to address the reasons behind why you are addicted to alcohol.
All this can be done one after the other in our comfortable facility.
In order to access our help, all you have to do is give us a call at 01908 489 421 and let our admissions team handle the rest.
