National Vodka Day
Today is National Vodka Day. Yes, you read that right. National Vodka Day. Lately, it seems that every day is “national something or other” day. Americans always find something to celebrate. It comes as no shock, in a culture fixated on drinking, that many “holidays” often revolve around some type of alcohol. America has a very obvious, and unhealthy, alcohol obsession culture.
Every event, from football games and holiday parties to bridal showers and summer cookouts, involves drinking. Young people joke about one day “pregaming” their children’s birthday parties. Drinking on an empty stomach to get drunk “faster” is a way for millennials to save money. Day drinking is normalized with boozy brunches. Binge drinking is celebrated by toting the name “weekend warriors.”
Our culture is obsessed with getting outside ourselves, and we do it by drinking every chance we get and ignoring the dark consequences and realities. Alcohol is deadly, it kills more people every year than the opioid epidemic that we have been viciously fighting against for the past ten years. It’s estimated that over 88,000 people a year die from alcohol related causes, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
We don’t discuss alcohol poisoning, blacking out or DUI’s when we talk about the drug epidemic. We don’t discuss the violence that alcohol often plays a part in. We don’t display alcohol related deaths on a sign when you enter the county, but we do with heroin overdoses. We don’t see alcohol as a “real drug,” and that is a real problem. Most people who drink excessively, also known as binge drinking, do not become alcohol dependent, but do experience short- and long-term problems associated with drinking. Binge drinking is considered consuming four or more drinks per occasion.
“Who doesn’t have four or more drinks at the bar?” you ask. Your judgement may be clouded by America’s alcohol culture. The way we think and talk about alcohol is damaging and has long term effects on our ideas surrounding alcohol abuse and alcoholism. All too often, we forget about the number of negative side effects alcohol has.
Alcohol has a number of both short term and long-term health risks, from motor vehicle crash, to breast cancer. Some of the negative short-term side effects of drinking are: -violence -suicide -assault -alcohol poisoning -car accidents -fetal alcohol syndrome. The long-term effects of drinking are: -high blood pressure -heart disease -stroke -liver disease -breast, liver or colon cancer -anxiety -depression -alcohol dependence.
Alcohol Detox Near Atlanta
If you or someone you know is dependent on alcohol, struggles with excessive drinking, binge drinking, or daily alcohol use, treatment options are available. Atlanta Detox Center is a premier alcohol detox in Georgia that specializes in detox from prescription drugs, heroin, opioids and crystal meth, as well as co-occurring disorders in mental health. Atlanta Detox Center treats men and women.
It is important not to try to stop drinking on your own. Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are potentially life threatening. After completing alcohol detox in Atlanta it is further treatment programs might be necessary. Luckily there are many outpatient treatment programs in Georgia including Georgia Addiction Treatment Center that can help you recover from alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder. Contact us to speak to one of our admissions specialists today at 844-658-0927.
Atlanta Detox Center is a part of Diamond Recovery Recovery Centers, a division of Diamond Recovery Health. Diamond Recovery Recovery Centers offer treatment for drug and alcohol addiction as well as co-occurring mental health disorders in facilities across the country.
