I wanted to remind you again that I have a Facebook Fan Page (please visit it here and hit the LIKE button) and a YouTube channel (if you spend much time on YouTube you might want to subscribe to it here). I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute to either go to the end of this blog and hit the LIKE button, or go to the facebook fan page link and click on like.

I watched a movie last night that maybe you have heard of, Letters to Juliet, and I have to paraphrase a great quote from it. It was something along the lines of perfectionism is just another name for being a chicken.

Wow, can I relate to that. I so often will hide behind the idea that something has to be perfect for me to do it, share it, etc, and really there is just a lot of illogical fears behind it instead. Ok, to the news.

Brent Shapiro Summer Spectacular and Tons of Celebrities

If you haven’t heard of the Brent Shapiro Foundation you can visit their website here. They are a great foundation doing great work communicating the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. The organization was founded by Hollywood lawyer Robert Shapiro after his son died from alcohol and ecstasy abuse one night.

The sad part about this story is he had 18 months of sobriety and he thought could experiment again. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this same story and it is perhaps one of the most troubling because in many ways they were over the hardest part of recovery.  The first year.

Our minds are so good at convincing us of false realities, especially when it comes to alcohol and drug abuse.

At this event Kelly Osborne was recognized for her overcoming substance addiction in her life. She told RadarOnline.com: ‘I’m really nervous because I have to give a speech and it is always really hard for me to talk about Brent because it makes me want to cry. But we are all here for such a good cause, to spread the word and such a beautiful message.’

If you want more information on this event just google it. It was great to see the number of stars that came out to support this great cause.

College DUI Kills 6 & Parent Advice for College Students and Binge Drinking

You might of heard of the gruesome accident that happened this summer in Fresno, California with 3 young college students and greyhound bus. It was one of the stories that prompted me to do a press release on the important topic of college students and binge drinking. I actually did two interviews on the topic last week and you can read my press release on my other site here, as well as I will be posting the interviews there at a later time.

I wanted to take a second and cover the advice I gave to the radio host last week when I was asked what I would do with my kids to help curb the dangers of alcohol abuse and binge drinking in college. So for what it is worth here is my advice.

• Education – This feels so cliche, but have open dialogues with your kids about the topic, prevalence of drinking and current events like this one. Approach with curiosity and not judgment.
• Fraternities and Sororities – My parents didn’t allow me to join one my freshman year and I think that was great advice, although I did go on to become a full fledged alcoholic . Regardless my freshman year I drank much less and am convinced it would have been worse at the fraternities I rushed.
• Pick the Right University – Not all schools are equal and there is a reason why some schools rank on the top of the party list and others don’t. If you are paying for your child’s education why not only allow schools that are not in the top 20 for partying.
• Make Sure They Avoid Boredom – This was covered in another blog last week, but the bottom line is when people are bored they tend to want to drink and use drugs more. Make sure your child joins some extracurricular organizations that keep them busy. Classes are often not enough to keep all students busy, especially depending on the classes and university.

What other advice do you have? I would love to hear it below in the comments.

National Drug Survey Results Released – Revisited

Yesterday I had this in the daily review and said I would come back to it.

Director Kerlikowske released the results of the 2009 National Survey On Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and overall it showed an increase in illicit drugs and that youth attitudes about the dangers have lessened.

What I wanted to specifically come back to was the advice they recommended. Here is what they were quoted saying, and it goes along with what I just discussed above.  “There are two things that parents can do, today, to make a difference. First, talk to your kids about drugs. Make sure they know of the harms that can result from drug use and that you don’t approve of them. Second, when you get home today, go through your medicine cabinet and remove unused or unneeded prescription drugs.”

I think that is sound advice, but way too simplified. How you talk to your kids is really what needs to be taught, because that alone can make the difference of reaching them or not reaching them.

That covers the news for today. Thanks for visiting!

Thanks, Dave Andrews

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The 3 Minute Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: The goggles/wetsuit/duct tape no drinking solution, another city alcohol fee controversy and a discouraging national drug survey result
2. Does Back to College Mean Back to Binge Drinking?
3. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review

First, I wanted to give you a quick update. You may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a week and I have to apologize. I have spent the last week getting things setup, like a Facebook Fan Page (please visit it here and hit the LIKE button), a YouTube channel (if you spend much time on YouTube you might want to subscribe to it here), and getting a new logo and banner for the site.  And that is just a few of the things .

So I have been busy, but I am really looking forward to doing this at least 5 days a week. I will try 7, but I don’t want to promise something that I am not sure I can deliver. After all I do have a day job.

Last, I decided to do these all in text and VIDEO format, so I’m really excited about that. So for each day you can choose which option is preferable. I would love to get any feedback below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=juhPC1roQNs

Why is Baseball Star Josh Hamilton is Going to Wear Goggles, Duct Tape over his Mouth and a Wetsuit?

I think this is just great and I have to thank @choosehelp for tweeting about it or I might have missed it in the news. Those of you that don’t know Josh Hamilton’s story of recovery, it is an amazing one. I don’t have time to cover it here, but I wanted to share something he recently said. As an admitted and somewhat avid fantasy baseball player I especially like this story.

USA Today shared his quote to the Fort-Worth Star Telegram that “I’m going to have goggles on, duct tape over the mouth and either a wetsuit or raincoat.  It can’t get on your skin. It’ll soak through your skin. I don’t want to send the wrong message to people who might see pictures and think I’m not serious about recovery or what it stands for.”

Once again, one of my favorite topics to cover is how even leaders in sports, medicine, movies, TV and you name it struggle with alcohol, abuse and addiction. You are not alone. And when you do recover look what is possible. He is one of the leading MVP candidates this season for a team heading to the playoffs.

Controversial Alcohol Services Fee in San Francisco

KTVU in San Francisco states “A 35-cent fee would be assessed for every gallon of beer sold by wholesalers in the city. For wine the fee would be $1 per gallon, and for hard alcohol, $3.20 per gallon.”

The fee is to cover expenses by the city for alcohol and abuse related costs. I have read enough studies, and done enough radio interviews to know that the costs incurred for alcohol and abuse, let alone other addictions, are very real for local communities.

There is some room for debate around the “normal” drinker and whether they should be forced to cover the costs for the not so normal drinkers, but I think part of the problem lies in the fact that even the normal drinker is known to sometimes cause issues.

In my opinion the costs of alcohol and abuse are well documented and no city should have to take money away from other expenses to cover this. If you consider alcohol a good thing to have around, there is going to be some bad side effects that come with it and that is the “cost” of keeping it available. People don’t tend to argue this with cigarettes, so the same logic applies. Thoughts? Share them below.

National Drug Survey Results Released – Not Encouraging

Director Kerlikowske released the results of the 2009 National Survey On Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and overall it showed an increase in illicit drugs and that youth attitudes about the dangers have lessened.

They state that the good news is they know what to do. I am going to address this topic further tomorrow, but I find this study concerning. I know I would like more information on where meth fits into all of this, as it seems advertising campaigns around the dangers of meth have been in full force in communities around the country. And I had heard they were working, so it is possible just with meth they are, but there is progress to be made with marijuana and other drugs.

I will touch on the advice the gave tomorrow as I think it is important. And now these will be going out to my email lists, so don’t miss on signing up below. As always I would love any feedback on the topics discussed around alcohol and abuse.

Thanks, Dave Andrews

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Biggest decline in drinking in 60 years, 50 lives a year saved by new tax, Naomi Campbell’s one day at a time
2. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: New Drinking Study, Michael Douglas & The Puffy Alcoholic
3. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review

A couple days ago my wife went to an Al-Anon meeting and heard a way too typical story. The story shared by a wife of how her husband had seemingly been doing well in sobriety, but had recently started drinking again. She was done with replaying the past and all the broken promises and said it was over for good this time. Unfortunately his reaction was to take his own life.

It is so sad to hear that these kids have to grow up without their father and I wish I could say I don’t know how anyone could ever reach that low of a breaking point, but I do know. I know firsthand how much pain, frustration, fear and failure I experienced around my drinking and all my failed attempts at sobering up. I know what it is like to lie in bed and just want to die instead of have to try to take on another day sober.

Just don’t let this be the story of you or your loved ones. Search endlessly and become committed to finding your answer to recovery and you will find it.

And remember, as a friend of mine says, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Ok, let’s get to the news today.

Police & Teacher Survey Say Alcohol and Marijuana are the Most Serious Problem Substances Facing Teens

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest released the results yesterday of a national Teen Substance Abuse survey that concluded that police officers and high school teachers nationwide believe that alcohol and marijuana are the biggest substance abuse problems for teens.

The numbers are pretty interesting to look at. Although clearly both police and HS teachers see each of these as the greatest concern for abuse, I was interested in the difference at how they ranked meth abuse. I just read the book Methland, which I will probably review at some point, and it painted a very scary picture. Amazing book by the way. I can easily see how police rank meth so much higher after reading about what law enforcement experiences has been with fighting this drug. Nothing short of shocking and really just depressing.  Check out the rest of the numbers on this article – I think you will find them interesting.

International Suicide Prevention Week Ends Tomorrow

September 6th – 11th is suicide prevention week and it seemed relevant to mention it here based on how I started today’s news.

For a great website recently released on suicide prevention visit Wellesley Acts.

Boredom and Alcohol Abuse – The Perfect Combination

I recently enjoyed reading a blog by Sherry Gaba, called Boredom Contributing Factor to Adolescents and Addiction, that discussed the role that boredom plays in teens and alcohol and drug abuse. You might remember Sherry from my other newsletter, reviewing her new book The Law of Sobriety.

When working with others in recovery I often point out how important it is for others to find ways to occupy their time, or the odds of them going back to use again increase dramatically.  One statistic Sherry Gaba mentioned to validate this is “adolescents ages 12 to 17 who are bored are 50 percent likelier than those not bored to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs, according to a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.”

The lesson to me as a father is to get and keep my kids involved in extracurricular activities.  And the lesson to you if you are in recovery is to do the same. One great way is go to meetup.com.  This site you can find all kinds of local groups to get involved with, but the best part about it is you can look specifically for local SOBER groups.

Have a great weekend! Also I would love to read any comments below, so feel free to let me know what you think and what alcohol and abuse news I might have missed or left out.

Thanks, Dave Andrews

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Free Stuff from RecoveryMonth.gov & Law of Sobriety Book Review
2. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review
3. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: 85.6 Million & 2 Awesome Stories of Recovery – Jamie Lee Curtis & Tom Sizemore

In case any of you follow national news you might of heard of the fires in Boulder, Colorado over the last few days. Unfortunately 135 homes have been lost so far and I decided to look at the addresses because I had several friends in that vicinity that I had lost touch with, but I knew still lived in that area. I was surprised to see that it appears at least one of my old friends lost their home.

These things always hit a little closer to home when you know someone that has been impacted.  At least as sad as that is the most important thing is no lives have been lost.

85.6 Million Awarded to Local Communities to Prevent Youth Drug Use

Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said “Data shows that communities receiving DFC funding have seen significant reductions in past 30-day use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana among middle and high school students.” Here is the press release from about a week ago if you want to read more details.

Sobriety Re-Launches Tom Sizemore’s Career

Did any of you watch Tom Sizemore on Celebrity Rehab or Sober house? Now if there was someone I was skeptical at staying sober, at least early on, it was him. Today he has 15 months of sobriety and has over 30 current projects he is working on between 2009 and 2010.

I can’t tell you how much I love a story like this. The great thing is success this time will be so much sweeter than it was in the past for him. I just hope he is prioritizing his sobriety and making smart choices, as he is on his way to following the path of Robert Downey Jr., whom I believe attended 27 rehabs before finally getting sober and turning his whole career back around.

Congratulations Tom, you are an inspiration to all of us.  To read more visit the article on The Daily Beast – A Hollywood Star’s Journey Through Meth Hell.

Jamie Lee Curtis Celebrates 10 Years Sobriety

Ok, let’s stay on the inspirational story theme. Jamie Lee Curtis today said on The Today Show that “My recovery is the single greatest accomplishment of my life. And without that, the rest of my life would have fallen apart.”

I love to say that the single greatest demonstration of strength you can make in your life is overcoming alcoholism or a serious addiction. After that everything in comparison seem so much easier. And of course, as Jamie said, without sobriety the outlook is bleak.

So not only do I love this quote from Jamie Lee Curtis, but she also starred in perhaps one of my all time favorite movies, True Lies.

I have a funny memory I have to share with this movie. I have seen it many times, but my favorite has to be on the beach of Montezuma, Costa Rica. My wife, girlfriend at the time, and I went to this bar that had a little outside theatre and they were playing this movie. It was a bring your own alcohol place, so I remember buying a six pack for my wife and I to share while watching it. Interestingly enough, per the alcoholic mind, I also remember being thoroughly annoyed that I could only drink 4 beers during this movie. After all, it is a long movie .

Thank you Jamie for having the courage to share your story and inspire others on national TV. It is people like you that pave the way for others to get sober.

Have a wonderful night/day and I will be updating again tomorrow. As always sign up below to start getting these to your email. I haven’t started sending them out yet, but I will very soon.

Thanks, Dave Andrews

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Free Stuff from RecoveryMonth.gov & Law of Sobriety Book Review
2. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review
3. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Biggest decline in drinking in 60 years, 50 lives a year saved by new tax, Naomi Campbell’s one day at a time

To me Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer and the start of fall, and the weather seemed to change right on queue today. This is probably one of my favorite months in Colorado, with the cool nights, leaves changing colors and perfect daytime temperatures.  I got to finish my weekend going to see Eat Pray Love with my wife and Mom, which was a nice treat. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie and I was taken back to some of the time I spent out of the country.

I was lucky in college to do a couple study abroad programs and one was to Guadalajara, Mexico for four months. As great as it was, the unfortunate reality was my drinking was probably as bad as it ever was during my college years, so I didn’t make near as good use of the time as I would now if I had the same opportunity. But the movie did bring back some interesting memories. Anyway, enough about me, let’s get to the news.

21st Annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month

September is Recovery Month!  Be sure to check out this great Government Website on it – http://www.recoverymonth.gov.

Now this is really cool – get a free recovery toolkit at the website. Below are the details and when I get mine I will be sure to let everyone know what I thought.  Not only do they have this toolkit below, but they have all kinds of other great resources for free that they will mail you. Great stuff!

2010 Join the Voices For Recovery: Now More Than Ever! Recovery Month Toolkit
The 2010 Recovery Month toolkit focuses on the effectiveness of substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment services and the hope of recovery. The toolkit features helpful statistics, resources, event ideas, suggestions, and samples on how to reach local media, fact sheets for key constituency groups, special audiences, and more. All of the materials can help you convey the 2010 observance theme: Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever! Targeted outreach includes public safety officials, older Americans, the workforce and families.

There is all kinds of other great resources on this website, and truly recovery month is a great thing. I will definitely be covering this topic more as the month unfolds.

The Trifecta of Alcohol Abuse, Smoking and Overweight

Not that this should be any surprise, but if you abuse alcohol, smoke cigarettes and are overweight a new study released in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, says this may be related to a higher occurrence of brain injury. I find this slightly ironic that this is the same journal that just published a study that said heavy drinkers live longer.

But regardless they are just publishing studies, and what makes perfect sense with this is the synergistic impact of abusing more than one thing. Which for those of you that are new to this term, simply means 1 addiction + 1 addiction does not equal 2, but rather equals 3, 4 or even more. If you want to read the article in the L.A. Times you can see it here – Extra Weight May Account for Brain Injury Among Alcoholics.

Law of Sobriety – New Book by Sherry Gaba

This weekend I just read a great new book that came out September 1st, one I had been highly anticipating.  The Law of Sobriety – Attracting Positive Energy for a Powerful Recovery.  You can read about the book and author at her website link above, but I also put a video review on the amazon site, which you can see here.  Dave Andrews review of The Law of Sobriety.

To sum it up she applies the powerful concepts of the Law of Attraction to getting and staying sober. She offers great insight and great exercises and introduces concepts that I have seen rarely covered in a lot of recovery material, yet so effective in helping others. I highly recommend you pick up this book.

Well I have a lot more I could share today, but I think that is enough so if you like these newsletters and want to get them in email just sign up below.  Your email address will of course be kept private.

Have a great week and I will be in touch tomorrow!  Dave Andrews

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: New Drinking Study, Michael Douglas & The Puffy Alcoholic
2. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review
3. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Biggest decline in drinking in 60 years, 50 lives a year saved by new tax, Naomi Campbell’s one day at a time

Labor Day Weekend is here and I am ready for a fun 3 day weekend. It is the last holiday until Thanksgiving for me, so I am glad it is here. Labor Day marks the end of the “100 Days of Heat” DUI crackdown in Colorado so it will be interesting to see how many more DUI’s there are this summer over last.

Biggest Decline in Alcohol Consumption in 60 Years!

I wanted to start today off with a positive note. In the UK the British Beer and Pub Association noted some data from the Office of National Statistics that said they have seen a decline in 4 of the last 5 years in alcohol drinking, accounting for a total reduction of 13% since 2004. The question we need to answer here is why. London is known for how expensive pints are, so is that a driving factor, or has there been other efforts to curb drinking that can account for this? Regardless the trend is great to see and something I would love to see here in the United States.

Scotland Dramatically Raising The Taxes on Alcohol

Keeping on the same trend another topic getting a lot of attention is on the rise in taxes in Scotland for alcohol. The article Scottish government to tackle alcohol abuse with price hike cites some pretty powerful statistics to back up the decision.

The Scottish health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said the increase was critical to curb the high death toll and health issues from alcohol abuse. Scotland drinks 25% more per capita than the rest of the UK.  It is estimated that about 50 lives a year will be saved, hospital admissions would be cut by 1,200 a year and almost 23,000 days lost from work in the first year this was implemented.

When laws like this are able to back them up with these types of statistics it certainly makes a powerful case at how logical the change is. I applaud this decision and will be real curious to see if these numbers are realized after the changes are enacted.

Naomi Campbell Taking it One Day at a Time

Recently Naomi Campbell addressed a question about whether she was going to have kids or not and her response was she was in no rush. She mentioned that she no longer tries to plan too far ahead since her struggle with alcoholism and that she takes things one day at a time.

The reason I mention this, and why I like to discuss public figures that have struggled with alcohol and abuse, is I think it allows us all to feel normal. When we see people that seem like they have it all and realize they struggle just like us, it allows us to get over the shame and embarrassment of abuse and start down the path of recovery.

Well that is all I have time to review today. Have a wonderful weekend!

Dave Andrews

P.S. I will be sending these out in email very soon, so if you are interested in receiving these to your inbox be sure to sign up below. Of course your information will be kept private and you won’t get spam, well at least from us .

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: New Drinking Study, Michael Douglas & The Puffy Alcoholic
2. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review
3. 1,565 Per Person Per Year! Australian Alcohol Abuse is a Major Crisis

My Mom and Step-Dad just got into town today, so I am looking forward to a fun weekend of events around the Denver area this weekend. I hope all of you have some nice family plans lined up for the weekend. Holiday weekends are always interesting because it seems like just yesterday I couldn’t imagine a sober weekend, let alone a sober holiday weekend.

So I am always grateful to not be obsessed with the thoughts of drinking all weekend and making sure I have enough alcohol around to last through the holiday.

A Different Perspective to The Study That Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers

Yesterday I reviewed a highly controversial article that has garnered a ton of attention in Time that said heavy drinkers outlive nondrinkers. You can read here if you missed it. Today I wanted to offer up a study that offers a different conclusion and to also talk about this from a different point of view.

One thing I like to do, especially with controversial topics like this, is just to ask what does my common sense tell me. I mentioned yesterday that personally my health has changed dramatically since I got sober. I didn’t mention how many people in the rooms of AA I have seen go from critical health concerns to looking and feeling great and seeing a complete reversal of their blood work. I recently published an article on EzineArticles.com that is in some ways related to this, which you can read here – Alcohol Treatments. This article was done with a bit of a fun intention, which was to simply point out all the things alcohol is used for that isn’t  for drinking, such as fuel, cleansing agents, disinfectants, etc. And of course this was meant to point out a bit of the insanity when you think that this is substance you put in your body for a good time. To me it is crazy to think that alcohol put in your body in excess, that is also used in the ways discussed in this article, could actually have a positive impact on your health. Is that common sense to you?

Also one of the hundreds of comments to this Time article was nice enough to reference a study done that contradicts this one. You can read it at the Oxford Journals, which is a very reputable source. If you have any doubts about the validity of the Time article be sure to read this journal.

Michael Douglas on David Letterman’s “Late Show”

The recent news around Michael Douglas has to be mentioned, given the article we just discussed. Michael Douglas has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Throat Cancer and he discussed with David Letterman about his past drinking and smoking past. Report sin the New York Times says this particular cancer is brought on from drinking and smoking.

The good news is he is expected to fully recover. I am always in awe with regard to how far modern medicine has come and lives that are saved every day.

Why Does Alcohol Abuse Make You Bloated?

I was at work the other day and a conversation came up around this topic when we were discussing someone we thought might have a drinking problem. I mentioned he always had that bloated look, which I have seen quite often among active heavy drinkers. Of course I had to look in the mirror at my bloated face for years.

The question was asked why does alcohol make you bloated/puffy and I realized I had never actually looked that up. Well I just read a great explanation on that on which you can read here on eHow.com, but I will summarize the main point. Alcohol dehydrates you and the body overcompensates by retaining water. But another aspect of this is an allergic reaction that many have to alcohol, even though most people are not even aware of it.

All I can say is one of the greatest things I like seeing is watch people’s face change during their first 30 days of sobriety.  Their face gets a healthy look and their eyes come to life.

That is all I have for today.

Dave Andrews

P.S. If you want this newsletter sent to your email, or at least the summary of the headlines, put your name below as I will start sending this out to the list soon.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. The Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review
2. Does Back to College Mean Back to Binge Drinking?
3. New Study Says if Excise Taxes on Alcohol are Increased Deaths Will Decrease

Here is the first installment of what I plan to make my daily review of alcohol and abuse news. The idea came to me a year ago when I was reading one of my favorite newsletters on technology and in doing research there didn’t seem to be a good daily thread on this topic. And since I finally have a website that it makes sense to do it on I am excited to actually launch this. I really hope it adds value to you.

Every day I will cover a wide range of information and will often offer some of my commentary on it, and of course a link to where you can find the original content. So let’s get started…

Study Shows Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers

An article published last Monday in Time Magazine called “Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers?” has caused quite the controversy. Given the topic it is no surprise that it already has gotten 287 comments. Everything from people thanking them for confirming their drinking habits are ok to adamant disagreements and studies proving otherwise. The article is based on a paper published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research which concluded that abstainer’s mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.

This topic alone could be discussed in depth and actually would make a great article, but since that is not the format of this daily alcohol and abuse news review I will hold back from going to in depth. I do have a couple quick responses. I can say personally I had ER visits and serious health issues when I was an active drinker, and all have “miraculously” disappeared since my drinking did. So to me this study couldn’t be more false.

What I will say is one conclusion made was that drinkers tend to benefit from the social aspect of drinking. It is a core need for humans to connect with others and if drinking does act as a social lubricant for someone I would agree there can be a healthy side effect to this. But of course they do not need to be mutually exclusive. And any recovered alcoholic also knows that near the end the alcoholic drinker starts to drink alone more and more.

Regardless this is one of those articles that I highly recommend reading, as well as the comments. The link is above. Tomorrow I am going to discuss a few more details around this as well.

Craig Ferguson’s Inspiring Story of Recovery – 1.9 Million Views

I thought a great way to start off this Alcohol and Abuse Daily News feed was sharing a video where Craig Ferguson, late night talk show host on CBS, discusses some of his alcoholic past. The great thing about this is it is FULL of wisdom, and at the same time fun to watch. Hard to do on such a serious topic.

Here a few things he shares that grabbed my attention the most.

• He had a thinking problem, not a drinking problem. I could talk about this topic for days, but watch the video for his fun and clear explanation of this.
• Alcohol actually saved his life. Another interesting explanation on this.
• Embarrassment around alcoholism and discusses Brittney Spears.

So do yourself a favor, or a loved one a favor, and watch or pass on this video. Even in the posts below the video there are people that comment on how this monologue saved their life.

Great stuff!

Ok, well given the thought provoking article and this great video, I think that is more than enough to put in the daily news review today.  I look forward to posting tomorrows alcohol and abuse news and please I would love to hear from you below, so be sure to comment.

Dave Andrews

P.S. To get this newsletter just put your email address below. We will not sell your address or send you spam, I promise .

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. 1,565 Per Person Per Year! Australian Alcohol Abuse is a Major Crisis
2. Does Back to College Mean Back to Binge Drinking?

You might have recently seen a Major Study published on alcohol abuse and misuse in Australia that estimated the annual cost of excessive drinking there to be 36 billion dollars. For a country less than 1/10th the size of United States that number is a bit startling. Also consider the fact that wikipedia.com estimates the population at  a size of just under 23 million people. That means alcohol abuse costs each and every citizen of Australia roughly 1,565 dollars a year. Also the Australian Education and Rehabilitation Foundation estimates that more than 70% of the adult population would be “negatively affected” by other peoples drinking.

I guess given the varies alcohol abuse facts I have mentioned and written about on this site already, see my Free Report Download if you are interested, it shouldn’t surprise me at all. But when I put this in the context of how much it costs each citizen, it really put it in perspective. The challenges alcohol and abuse creates for every country around the world are very real and experienced at one point or another by almost everyone.

It is great to see studies like this published, but ultimately it comes down to what are we going to do about it? How do we curb the level of alcohol acceptance and abuse that seems to be worldwide? I have a lot of articles written on this topic at the Alcohol and Abuse Articles page on this site, but I would love to hear from you to see what you think? What solutions do you think would work on a community scale and on a country wide scale?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

No related posts.

What "Puke" Does The Alcoholic In Your Life Create?

If you are one of the over 100 million people in just the U.S. that have had to watch a loved one struggle with alcohol and abuse or other addictions, you can probably relate directly to this. The path of destruction the alcoholic can create until they finally, and hopefully, reach their bottom can get really ugly. And as the loved one of the alcoholic or addict it is so hard to not only try to help them get help, but to also try to stay out of their way so they don’t also destroy your life in the process.

So if you can relate to this break out that puke shield and put it to use in your life. If you are looking for help a good friend of mine, James Ross, has put together some amazing resources and content that I know could help you, so do yourself a favor and check out his website, http://www.jamesinspires.com – Surviving Love and Relationships with Alcoholics and Addicts.

Also if you haven’t had the opportunity to download my two free reports be sure to check them out on this site at Alcohol and Abuse Free Reports. Have you used the puke shield in your relationship? What are other favorite slogans and metaphors you like? Share below as I would love to hear your thoughts.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

No related posts.