Binge drinking

What is Binge Drinking

Binge drinking is different from the characteristics of alcohol use disorder, as people who binge drink may not drink alcohol every day, or even every week as someone battling alcoholism will do. Binge drinking most commonly affects people between the ages of 18 to 35, but can be seen in younger and older demographics. 

For it to be classified as binge drinking, it is not about how often the individual drinks, it is about heavy drinking in a short period of time. As per CDC studies, on average, one in six people who binge drink will only drink around four times a month.

If someone is struggling with alcohol consumption, it is important to know whether drinking alcohol is turning into an addiction. It is also vital that the dangers and effects of binge drinking are understood.

Signs of binge drinking:

• Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels rise to the legal limit of .08 in a short space of time.
• For men: Five drinks are consumed in under two hours.
• For women: Four drinks are consumed in under two hours.

Negative Health Effects of Binge Drinking

Alcohol consumption will always have a negative effect on health, but consuming large quantities of alcohol in a short space of time puts a far higher toll on one’s health. 

Adverse affects from binge drinking are:

• Severely impaired judgment, putting the drinker at risk of engaging in risky behavior and DUIs.
• Judgment, coordination, and motor skills are impaired, leading to falls and injuries.
• Increased higher risk of alcohol poisoning, which kills six people a day in the United States.
• Much higher risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, miscarriage, and stillbirths.
• Higher risk for high blood pressure, liver disease, and heart disease.
• Higher risk for developing cancers of the mouth, throat, liver, esophagus, breast, and colon.
• Easily slips in alcoholism and alcohol use disorders.

Facts About Binge Drinking

Binge drinking may erroneously be seen as less dangerous than full-blown alcoholism. This is a common and dangerous misconception based on the fallacy of how often one’s drinking sessions are. It is important to understand binge drinking can be just as dangerous and difficult to control. 

Anyone can binge drink

Although binge drinking is more commonly seen in the 18-35 age group, anyone can do it. It may be more frequently seen in young people and college students, but it can and does affect anyone. 

Although in the past, American adults who binge drink were usually male, there has been a recent increase in the number of women who admit to binge drinking. 

Binge drinking affects the economy

Aside from the burden on the healthcare system due to alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related injuries, accidents, and illnesses, binge drinking also impacts the criminal justice system and employers. 

A study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2010 showed that binge drinking cost the United States a staggering $249 billion a year. This is equal to about $2 for every drink consumed in the United States per year. 

Binge drinking is different to alcohol use disorder

Many people binge drink from time to time but do not suffer from alcohol use disorder. However, someone struggling with alcohol use will eventually exhibit behavioral patterns that will indicate an addiction. 

A person who binge drinks that has alcohol use disorder will not have control over how much they drink. Once they start drinking, they will be unable to stop. This often leads to alcohol poisoning. 

Other people who are not alcoholics may go for long periods of time without drinking but may binge drink occasionally. Although these people do not have an alcohol addiction yet, they are at an increased risk of developing one. 

Binge Drinking Prevention

The ideal way to decrease the risk of becoming addicted to alcohol is to abstain from drinking altogether. However, if one must drink, their goal should be moderation. 

If a person is going to drink alcohol, they should limit intake to one drink per day for women, and two a day for men. Individuals with a history of binge drinking should avoid alcohol consumption entirely. 

Get Treatment for Alcohol Abuse

If you are worried that you or a loved one is binge drinking, or already seems addicted to alcohol, learn more about the warning signs of alcohol addiction. 

It is never too late to get help for alcoholism. Get in touch with us to find out how we can help you. Our treatment navigators are able to guide you on the best course of recovery and to receive treatment for all stages of alcohol use disorder. 

Related Information:

Alcohol Detox

Alcohol Rehab

Co-Occurring Disorders

The article is from an addiction and alcohol treatment center website

Anxiety and Stress

An article I wrote today for a local newspaper…

Stress and Anxiety – Why do I feel this way all the time?

             I feel so nervous at work and at home every day. I can’t seem to get it under control.  My boss might ask me to do something that I don’t know how to do, or my kids may get into trouble at school. These feelings are always there and I don’t know why…

            Many of us feel stress and anxiety during the day – yet we cope with it in different ways, and while we don’t always understand why we feel it, it is usually manageable.  However, an alarming number of Americans experience anxiety, frequently due to stress. Nearly 40 million people, or about 18% of Americans each year experience nervousness, uncertainty, fears, and restlessness. For these people, the feelings are not a normal reaction to stress, but instead may feel like panic, and it affects their daily life at work, at school, and at home.

            Feelings of anxiety may be felt most in the social situation, or plague us when we have to participate in a classroom experience or answer the teacher’s question. Often, it is not clear why we have the feelings – the anxiety may come up in a meeting, all of a sudden, with little warning. Anxiety, and the stress that we experience, is perhaps the most common of mental difficulties that people experience – and there are several different kinds or types of anxiety disorders.  In addition, anxiety can also be part of, or exist alongside, other disorders – such as depression, physical illness (headaches, stomach problems), sleeping difficulties – and may also trigger behaviors like substance or alcohol abuse. 

            Symptoms include:

• Constant worrying
• Trouble sleeping
• Nausea, sweating, rapid heartbeat
• Concentration or focusing problems
• Feeling easily startled or fearful
• Avoiding social situations

Both adults and children may also exhibit other symptoms, such as striving for approval, needing constant reassurance about performance, lacking confidence, and needing to be perfectionistic.  

The stress that we feel in our work, at our home, or in the school situation can interfere with our daily activities to the point that we feel unable to function normally.  It is at this time that one needs to seek out some help,  and get some assistance in understanding why we are experiencing the difficulty, and how to find different or better ways of coping. 

Anxiety disorders are classified into 5 different types or areas, each of which has different symptoms, coping mechanisms, and treatment recommendations.  You may experience frequent panic attacks (Panic Disorder), or fear dirt and germs, and needing to wash their hands incessantly (Obsessive-compulsive Disorder). Alternatively, you may not want to go outside of your home or go to the school function because you’re frightened of the social situation (Social Anxiety or Phobia). Individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have experienced trauma – often repeatedly, and need a safe environment to recall the events and reduce their fears.  (As I pointed out in a previous article, PTSD is common in soldiers, women and children that have experienced domestic violence, rape or sexual assault victims). 

The causes of anxiety disorders are complex, and there is no research that shows just one factor being involved. Rather, the causes may be environmental (domestic violence or reactions to disaster), genetic in nature, or due to psychological and developmental factors.  Most individuals that experience post-traumatic stress disorder have experienced some trauma in their life, and interestingly, genetics may play a role in whether someone then develops PTSD, or some other disorder as a way of coping with the trauma. 

Treatments are many, and are varied – depending on how the anxiety, or the reaction to stress is experienced. Different types of treatment are called for depending on the specifics of your difficulties.  Medications may be helpful, and may be recommended by your physician or mental health provider. However, an important point is that medication alone will not solve the difficulty – and psychotherapy, or a ‘talking therapy’ will be necessary.  Certain types of therapy are currently being researched (cognitive behavioral) for some of the anxiety disorders.  Many of the psychotherapies will include learning about relaxation approaches, such as breathing exercises or making changes in your lifestyle.  The therapeutic relationship with your mental health provider is of utmost importance, as this relationship will be the key to helping you cope differently with the stress and the anxiety.  

 Please email me with questions or comments.

  Rudy Oldeschulte, M.A., J.D. is a Del Rio psychotherapist, specializing in individual psychotherapy and parent guidance.  He has served on the faculty of the University of Arizona College of Medicine and taught at the British Association of Psychotherapists. Post- graduate training and education was done in London and at the University of Michigan.

Email address is: roldeschulte@gmail.com and his website is: http://www.rudyoldeschulte.com

Perspectives…

Psychological and philosophical point of view, brought to you in plain language…

http://www.raptitude.com/2010/10/9-mind-bending-epiphanies-that-turned-my-world-upside-down

 

The sound of roars

I wrote about her in The sound of waking up, and now want to do it again, as another song has woken my curiosity and interest. The woman in question is Miss Kate Perry, a young woman who`s lived and experienced more than we do in a lifetime. She has a history with failed relationships behind her, but went to therapy, and produced the (better) new album “Fireworks”. I have written about famous artists with certain personality attributes before, like this or this post. In addition to the personality; Strong, intelligent women, with an interesting and complex personality, some of their sound fit right into the literature about dissociation. Katy Perry also use a lot of imagery, another attribute well-developed in persons with traumatic histories. Another similarity is how they have used exactly those qualities, to create a good life for themselves. Not everyone have the same opportunities as them, off course, but it`s still an inspiration for millions of people, who need their idols and dreams to survive.

The song I want to focus on in this post, is “roar”. People familiar with her songs, or who listen to the radio, have probably heard it countless times, but have you registered how full it is with symbolism and mental images?

A tendency in Norway, like many other industrialized countries, is a focus on effectiveness and money in a health sector that should be the exact opposite. The rhythm is TOO intense, it draws us into a dance nobody likes. The health personal complain, the patients complain, and the government excuses. When no answers are given some even start criticizing each other; Another pin thrown into the growing haystack. I wish we could reverse this trend, before it is too late.

Shocking news about trauma centers closing down due to controversy and costs, hurt the ones who need it the most.

Off course, cases of the wrong type of treatment, must come to the front, but in some cases I miss the whole picture the media should provide. But the journalists are struggling from the intense pulsing sounds, too. As if this wasn`t bad enough, another foul-smelling ingredient is added to the recipe: The only ones who can stop it are the same people who started it. They have an impressive plethora of ways to not answer the important questions, but that`s about it. After the ball is over and the scandals behind the scenes have been revealed, it`s harder for them to dance without stumbling.

We need trauma therapy, we need time, and we need to use our creativity and imagination to really be of help. Our stress becomes their stress, and how can that be good for anyone? So can we start playing “roar” in the hospital, please? Because I want to hear you ROAR

First, the lyrics:

[Verse 1]
I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

[Pre-Chorus]
You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake your ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

Roar by Katy Perry

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, the fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake your ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]

Source:http://www.directlyrics.com
Posted October 6, 2013

And then the song:

What did you think? I`d love feedback on what YOU discovered, as I might learn something from my readers as well.

More information:

The Daily Post

Dissociation: Army of me

November, 2013

I have written some posts on dissociation, and even if people might feel this song has nothing to do with it, it still highlights one fact about dissociation: Dissociation means […]

Protected: Best of me

Recipe for change

July 25, 2013

More posts I`ve written about music

for password-protected posts, email me at forfreepsychology@gmail.com

The Therapeutic Alliance: The Essential Ingredient for Psychotherapy

 I am currently writing on the ‘therapeutic alliance’ – its relation to mindfulness, psychotherapy, understanding, and ‘being listened to…’   What follows is an interesting article that I came across that may interest some of you…

Excerpt:

Have you ever tried to change the way you do something? It could be anything — the way you hold your tennis racket, blow into a flute, meditate — you name it. If so, think about that experience. No matter how motivated you were to change, and no matter how much you knew that it would help your serve, musicality, or sense of inner peace, it can be difficult and scary to change even the smallest thing. In order to change, you have to give up your old way of doing something first and then try the new way. That means that for a while you’re in a free fall — you no longer have your old habit to rely on and you don’t yet have the new one.

The anxiety of trying to change something as complex and entrenched as how you relate to people close to you or manage stress takes the feeling to a whole new level. Yet, that’s just what you do when you enter psychotherapy. Just as you had to put yourself into the hand of your teachers and coaches, in therapy you need to gradually do just that with your therapist to help you through what can be a harrowing adventure. The foundation for therapy is called the therapeutic alliance (1, 2). When it’s there, you know that your therapist is there to help you, no matter how hard the going gets.

The therapeutic alliance might be the most important part of beginning a psychotherapy. In fact, many studies indicate that the therapeutic alliance is the best predictor of treatment outcome (3-5).

See entire article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-l-cabaniss-md/therapeutic-alliance_b_1554007.html

 

WOOLF’S DARKNESS: EMBRACING THE INEXPLICABLE

Woolf gave us limitlessness, impossible to grasp, urgent to embrace, as fluid as water, as endless as desire, a compass by which to get lost.

“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think,” Virginia Woolf wrote in her journal on January 18, 1915, when she was almost thirty-three years old and the First World War was beginning to turn into catastrophic slaughter on an unprecedented scale that would continue for years. Belgium was occupied, the continent was at war, many of the European nations were also invading other places around the world, the Panama Canal had just opened, the U.S. economy was in terrible shape, twenty-nine thousand people had just died in an Italian earthquake, Zeppelins were about to attack Great Yarmouth, launching the age of aerial bombing against civilians, and the Germans were just weeks away from using poison gas for the first time on the Western Front. Woolf, however, might have been writing about her own future rather than the world’s…

…Despair is a form of certainty, certainty that the future will be a lot like the present or will decline from it; despair is a confident memory of the future, in Gonzalez’s resonant phrase. Optimism is similarly confident about what will happen. Both are grounds for not acting. Hope can be the knowledge that we don’t have that memory and that reality doesn’t necessarily match our plans; hope like creative ability can come from what the Romantic poet John Keats called Negative Capability.

On a midwinter’s night in 1817, a little over a century before Woolf’s journal entry on darkness, the poet John Keats walked home talking with some friends and as he wrote in a celebrated letter describing that walk, “several things dove-tailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature.… I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.”

To read this entire essay, see link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/04/virginia-woolf-darkness-embracing-the-inexplicable.html?utm_source=tny&utm_campaign=generalsocial&utm_medium=tumblr&mbid=social_tumblr

First podcast on kindness to a stranger

I am still learning new things about the internet and its possibilities.. I`m talking english, so forgive me if the grammar could be better, and the nervousness, but I think the point is made, and that you`ll get an idea of what the podcast is about. I`ve finally sat down to look at podcasts, and have hopefully learnt enough to upload and publish my first one

Follow this link for the podcast

Acts of kindness

If you`d like to be interviewed about kindness, contact me at forfreepsychology@gmail.com with a request. After a while, I will try to pay the people I interview, but for now, the rewards will be psychological in nature. If you like the idea, remember you can donate to the cause (the money will never be used by me personally).

ReMoved

In Uncategorized on March 9, 2014 at 9:06 am

I woke up this morning to this lovely short film in my inbox. A sweet friend, who has devoted her professional life to therapeutic foster care issues, sent it along with the words, “Shelley: for those days you wonder ‘why’.”

I’m unsure of how the makers of this film so completely understand the path of a foster child, but I suspect at least one of them has shared the path of this little girl. This film is especially poignant for me, because my children came to me one at a time, which will resonate once you’ve seen the film. Please view and share. My heart is full of tears and love for these artists.

 

A mad world A diagnosis of mental illness is more common than ever – did psychiatrists create the problem, or just recognise it?

When a psychiatrist meets people at a party and reveals what he or she does for a living, two responses are typical. People either say, ‘I’d better be careful what I say around you,’ and then clam up, or they say, ‘I could talk to you for hours,’ and then launch into a litany of complaints and diagnostic questions, usually about one or another family member, in-law, co-worker, or other acquaintance. It seems that people are quick to acknowledge the ubiquity of those who might benefit from a psychiatrist’s attention, while expressing a deep reluctance ever to seek it out themselves…

…While a continuous view of mental illness probably reflects underlying reality, it inevitably results in grey areas where ‘caseness’ (whether someone does or does not have a mental disorder) must be decided based on judgment calls made by experienced clinicians. In psychiatry, those calls usually depend on whether a patient’s complaints are associated with significant distress or impaired functioning. Unlike medical disorders where morbidity is often determined by physical limitations or the threat of impending death, the distress and disruption of social functioning associated with mental illness can be fairly subjective. Even those on the softer, less severe end of the mental illness spectrum can experience considerable suffering and impairment. For example, someone with mild depression might not be on the verge of suicide, but could really be struggling with work due to anxiety and poor concentration. Many people might experience sub-clinical conditions that fall short of the threshold for a mental disorder, but still might benefit from intervention.

See link for interesting article on psychiatry…and bits about the importance of psychotherapeutic intervention…

http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/have-psychiatrists-lost-perspective-on-mental-illness/

Does abuse define a career path?

March 27, 2014 · therapy, trauma, work. ·

DEPRESSION

Does abuse define a career path?

BY DR. NICHOLAS JENNER ON MARCH 26, 2014 • ( 3 COMMENTS )

One of the enduring questions of human development and behaviour is why we take the paths that we do. What influences us in our choice of partner, profession, lifestyle and other things that make us who we are? This is a deep and complicated question even if a “good enough” upbringinghas been experienced but even more so when a history of abuse and/or dysfunctional parenting has prevailed. In this case, whenlackingthe foundation of security, how do abused children make their way in the world, seemingly dragging a ball and chain with them? A book I recently reviewed may offer some clues and answers to this.The book in question is  “Strong at Broken Places” by Linda TSandford.The basis of the book are the stories of twenty child abuse survivors who figured that “the best revenge is living well”. Prevailing over a childhood of sexual and physical abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse and witnessing domestic violence, Linda Sanford asked them to look back and help us all understand how they fared so well. One of the first popular books on resiliency, Strong at the Broken Placeswas written for every survivor, friend, family member, mentor or helping professional who seeks the path towards self-forgiveness and healing. 

Linda T Sandford spent most of time while writing her book explaining why she believes that abuse does not necessarily jump generations and the patterns of the past can be broken by survivors. This is often not the case when survivors of abuse choose a career path. It can be said that some abuse victims find their way in the working world because of the abuse and not in spite of it. Sandford eloquently uses a quote from Freud to start her reasoning: “there are two pillars of healthy life, love and work” It appears from Sandford’s research that many who could not find love, threw themselves into the other, making work the focus of their life.

In a normal family, parents are considerate and understanding with their children. They allow a child to be happy, responsible, creative and love is given and accepted by both sides. The child does not need to prove anything or work hard for the parent to love them and love is unconditional. In troubled families, abusive parents expect children to “do” for them in a spirit of “you are not good enough to love, you have to earn it”. Children, often thinking that this conditional love is better than none, “do” for their parents, becoming little “mothers, fathers, husbands or wives”.  This lead Sandford to the following conclusion: in contrast to the stereotype painted by society that abuse victims are “underachievers”, many excel at work, maybe because this work ethic is instilled in them through the abuse itself. This success in the workplace is usually not turned into the self-esteem that one would imagine. Many survivors point to the fact that work gives them a place “to belong”, either mirroring early family life helping siblings or parents or giving them something that they had never experienced before. Sandford states clearly that for many abuse victims, work is a manifestation of her theory of “looking good on the outside”.

It is then not surprising that abuse survivors often choose careers that have some relation to the abuse they suffered. Concerning this point, there is a widely held prejudice that due to the abuse, abuse victims careers are somewhat chosen for them through the conditioning experienced by the abusive parent. For example, if an abused child finds comfort in the animals or plants, many believe that this would drive them to be vets or horticulturalists. Sandford’s research did find, however, that many abuse victims end up in the helping professions, ranging from nurses to therapists. Through abuse and neglect, many survivors had to take on responsibility for the care of siblings and indeed parents from a young age and also have an ability to anticipate inappropriate behavior. Characteristics needed in abundance when helping others.

Found on fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net

Jen • 1 year ago

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For many survivors, the world of work is a meaningful place. Many abuse victims were brought up in poverty and working hard is a way of providing financial security. Many of the sample interviewed were self-employed in some way to avoid working “for” someone and many saw work as a way “offering social contact but without the need to show vulnerabilities or bare one’s soul”. Many survivors were by their own admission, workaholics, stating that this addiction was “more socially acceptable” and is “rewarded by society” bringing a sense of “self worth” to what they are doing. Sandford states clearly that balance in life is vital. What worked as a child, that is working hard to achieve, rarely works as an adult and many survivors use this “busyness” as a shield for depression. Sandford finishes by saying that she believes that “being should stand proudly next to doing and working”.

Dr. Nicholas Jenner is a Counseling psychologist in private practice working with individuals, couples,  groups and companies globally. Online therapy is, in my experience, effective for treating a number of major conditions. Are you having issues that you need to talk through? I have a range of plans that can help you get the help you need.  Online Therapy details : Here ……