Answer Addiction

Tag: heavy drinking

  • Ex-Kiss Guitarist Ace Frehley Details Phone Call That Made Him Get Sober

    Ex-Kiss Guitarist Ace Frehley Details Phone Call That Made Him Get Sober

    “She goes, ‘Dad, it’s time to stop.’ She goes, ‘You better call your sponsor and tell them to take you to a meeting tonight.’”

    In an interview with Eddie Trunk, ex-Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley opened up about getting sober and the unlikely phone call that helped him realize it was time to get help.

    Frehley, who has been sober for 13, revealed on SiriusXm’s Eddie Trunk Live!, that he first used alcohol at the age of 13 and didn’t stop until he got a life-changing phone call in 2006.

    The Call That Changed His Life

    “I ended up with five girls in my room in Vegas. I think I kept it going for another month. And then I got a phone call from my daughter, Monique, and she was living in Florida at the time,” he detailed, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. 

    “A lot of alcoholics talk about how they had that moment of clarity… Monique called me up and she goes, ‘Dad, I heard you been drinking again.’ I go, ‘Yeah, but I haven’t done anything else bad, you know? I haven’t done any coke yet, I haven’t done any pills.’ She goes, ‘Dad, it’s time to stop.’ She goes, ‘You better call your sponsor and tell them to take you to a meeting tonight.’”

    Frehley took her words to heart and after a few beats he relented.

    “I looked in the mirror and I looked like shit. I just said to her, ‘Alright, honey, I’ll give Jimmy a call.’ … he came and picked me up right after dinner, he took me to my first meeting, and that was 13 years ago,” Frehley said. “He’s like my guardian angel on earth; I got a lot of them floating around me – after 10 car accidents, someone’s got to be helping me!”

    His fans have expressed their gratitude to Frehley for being so forthcoming about his sobriety.

    “[E]very time I perform a concert I usually have meet-and-greets after the show… at least one person comes up to me and says, ‘Ace, I’ve been sober two years,’ ‘Ace, I’ve been sober five years,’” Frehley shared. “I’m helping people live longer lives, more fruitful lives, because I’m a power of example. Go figure!”

    Other Kiss Members

    Back in 2017, Frehley’s former Kiss bandmate Gene Simmons, who’s no stranger to controversy, said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that he attributres his success to the fact that he does not imbibe.

    “I’ve never done drugs or alcohol, never smoked cigarettes, so my soul is intact,” Simmons told reporter Allison Steward. Drummer Peter Criss battled cocaine addiction during the band’s peak and beyond but hasn’t taken drugs since 1984. 

     

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Liam Payne Drank Heavily To Deal With One Direction Fame

    Liam Payne Drank Heavily To Deal With One Direction Fame

    “I used to get off stage, high off the endorphins and get horrendously drunk, get up at five in the afternoon and do it all again.”

    One Direction, the wildly popular boy band from the UK, first gained fame from performing on The X Factor in 2010. They then scored their first number one single a year later. Years of fame and success followed, but as former 1D member Liam Payne recalls, the sudden rise to pop stardom “nearly killed” him before he cleaned up his act.

    As Payne explained on Table Manners with Jessie Ware podcast, “I went through a stage in the band when I was drinking really heavily—I put weight on and didn’t notice,” to the point where he was called the “fat one” in One Direction.

    “I was just really drunk every day… I used to just get wasted and say whatever I wanted. Our schedule time was just a mess, I used to get off stage, high off the endorphins and get horrendously drunk, get up at five in the afternoon and do it all again.”

    Reality Check

    The singer added, “I didn’t see what was looking back at me in the mirror.” It wasn’t until he saw an unflattering paparazzi picture of himself that he decided he needed to get help.

    “I was surprised I’d become that guy,” he says. “It was worth it to make me realize what life’s made of.”

    Payne ultimately realized, “You’re either gonna end up a crazy child star who dies at whatever age or you’re gonna live, laugh and actually get on with it properly.”

    It’s been hard for Payne to adjust to life post-stardom, but he says, “I needed to stop, definitely. It would have killed me. One hundred percent. I literally spent the last two years of this, in and out of doing the music, trying to learn to be a person, if that makes sense.”

    Life After One Direction

    In recent years, Payne has talked openly about his mental health struggles as a famous pop star. It was hard to hit the stage for hundreds of concerts when he didn’t feel good, and as he told Men’s Health Australia, “It’s almost like putting the Disney costume on before you step up on stage. I was pissed (drunk) quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jada Pinkett Smith Confronts Will Smith About His Alcohol Consumption

    Jada Pinkett Smith Confronts Will Smith About His Alcohol Consumption

    Pinkett Smith put a spotlight on the “Gemini” star’s vacation drinking on a recent episode of her Facebook talk show, “Red Table Talk.”

    Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith discussed their alcohol use and letting loose on a recent episode of Red Table Talk.

    On the episode, which focused on nutrition and wellness, the Smiths were joined by their three kids, Trey, 26, Jaden, 21, and Willow, 18. The family talked about common health issues, including substance use. 

    Their Drinking Habits

    Jada reveals that she “doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol at all, any more” before asking her husband about his alcohol use. 

    “That’s my personal business,” he replied, seemingly joking. “I respect that it’s your show, but at the end of the day, this is a house that we share.” 

    Smith went on to reveal that he drinks once or twice a week. He also said that on vacation, it’s a bit more. “On vacation time… it was a lot,” Smith said. 

    The family also paused awkwardly when asked about marijuana use. 

    “Everyone knows we’re 420 friendly, let’s be real,” Willow said. 

    Jada has been open about her past alcohol abuse and her family’s history of addiction. On an earlier episode of Red Table Talk she said that she went cold turkey after realizing she was drinking too much. 

    “I remember reaching a rock bottom that time I was in the house by myself and I had those two bottles of wine and was going for the third bottle,” she said, according to Too Fab. ”And I was like, ‘Now hold up. You’re in this house by yourself going onto your third bottle of wine? You might have a problem.’”

    Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

    It wasn’t the first time she had realized she was using unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

    “My sort of addictions jump, they jump around,” she said. “When I was younger, I definitely think I had a sex addiction of some kind. That everything could be fixed by sex. You know what I’m saying?”

    In the family that Jada grew up in, addiction was accepted as normal. Both parents lived with addiction and her father, Rob, eventually died from his addiction. All of that left Jada surprised to make it to adulthood. 

    “I grew up in a drug-infested neighborhood where you walk out each day and you just hope that you make it. I came from a war zone,” she said in 2012. “There was a possibility that I wouldn’t make it past 21—that was the reality. When I turned 40 (last year) it was a surreal moment because I had never imagined reaching 40.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Model Jessica Hart Speaks On Why She Embraced Sobriety

    Model Jessica Hart Speaks On Why She Embraced Sobriety

    “I wanted to look after myself. ‘My body is a temple’ is a saying I once would have laughed at, but I wanted to respect this vessel that is taking me through life,” Hart said.

    Australian model Jessica Hart recently celebrated her one-year sober anniversary, and to commemorate the occasion she wrote an essay for Harper’s BAZAAR about why she decided to quit drinking and treat her body like a temple.

    “One morning, when I was in my early thirties, I finally pulled the plug,” she wrote. “I just woke up one morning and said, This is it. I wanted to look after myself. ‘My body is a temple’ is a saying I once would have laughed at, but I wanted to respect this vessel that is taking me through life. I’d put it through so much and it was time to give back.”

    Though Hart says she never got to the point where she had to drink daily, she held the philosophy of “go hard or go home” when it came to consuming alcohol. She took pride in the fact that she could “drink most people under the table and come home as the sun was rising.”

    Thinking About The Future

    Now, at age 33, she worries about hurting herself, her career and her future with too much partying, and admires the people in her life who are sober and happy.

    “I looked at friends who live sober lives and have great families and successful businesses. I often thought, I want that. That other path—the one I was on—was simply unfulfilling.”

    Hart started her modeling career at age 14, one year after she first started drinking. She left school to fully devote herself to her work at age 15, traveling the world until she purchased a home in New York a few years later. She signed on with Victoria’s Secret in 2009 and has appeared on the covers of several of the most famous fashion magazines, including BAZAAR. 

    Unlike some models and celebrities, Hart’s life and career have been relatively free of drama in spite of her heavy drinking. She suffered a broken ankle and some nerve damage due to a serious cut on her foot in 2012, leading to a temporary hiatus from modeling. However, she was back for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show a few months later.

    Hart also broke her wrist two weeks into her self-imposed sobriety, but that ended up helping.

    “With a broken wrist for the summer, I had to cancel any travel plans and stay home, chill and heal,” she said. “The universe was telling me it was on my side.”

    She also attended AA meetings and The Landmark Forum, a personal development course, to help her transition into sobriety. Additionally, she learned to meditate and practices the skill when she feels anxious. To others looking to go sober, she recommends taking small steps.

    “I would encourage you to take small steps and see how they connect to make a huge impact on who you truly are. Once you put to the universe that you’re going to do this for yourself, the universe gives back. I promise you that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Worldwide Alcohol Consumption Continues To Rise

    Worldwide Alcohol Consumption Continues To Rise

    A new study predicts that 50% of all adults will consume alcohol by the year 2030.

    Consumption of alcohol across the world is still rising each year—and it’s not expected to stop any time soon, a new study reports. 

    The study, published in the journal The Lancet, looked at the trends in alcohol consumption from 1990 to 2017.

    Researchers found that over those 27 years, there was a 70% increase in the volume of alcohol consumed across the world, increasing from 5.5 billion gallons in 1990 to 9.4 billion gallons in 2017. 

    On average, researchers state, these numbers come out to an increase of about 1.7 gallons of alcohol each year. 

    While this seems like an enormous increase, researchers note that the growth could have to do with a growing population. 

    Among the study’s discoveries was the fact that alcohol consumption is increasing mainly in low- and middle-income countries, while high-income countries haven’t changed drastically. 

    “Our study provides a comprehensive overview of the changing landscape in global alcohol exposure,” study author Jakob Manthey of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany tells USA Today. “Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe. However, this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China, India, and Vietnam.”

    Overall, the study found that people in North Africa and the Middle East drink the least, while individuals in Central and Eastern Europe consume the most alcohol. 

    The study predicts that by the year 2030, 50% of all adults will consume alcohol, with 23% binge drinking at least once monthly. The study examined data from 189 countries, and Manthey says that by then, Europe will likely no longer be at the top of the list consumption-wise.

    If this prediction holds true, Manthey says that reduction efforts from the World Health Organization will not be reached. 

    “Based on our data, the WHO’s aim of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025 will not be reached globally,” Manthey said, according to USA Today. “Instead, alcohol use will remain one of the leading risk factors for the burden of disease for the foreseeable future, and its impact will probably increase relative to other risk factors.” 

    However, not everyone agrees that this will be the case. The Distilled Spirits Council tells USA Today that the study’s findings may not be accurate. 

    “This forecast is based on a questionable model that does not accurately reflect the long-term global reductions in alcohol abuse,” the council told USA Today via email. “In fact, the study’s findings contradict the latest data from the World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018, which showed important reductions in key global alcohol abuse indicators including alcohol related deaths and heavy episodic drinking from 2010 to 2016.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Drinking While Pregnant Becoming More Common In The US

    Drinking While Pregnant Becoming More Common In The US

    More than 10% of women reported drinking alcohol while pregnant, according to a new survey.

    Over one in nine pregnant women consume at least one drink per month and about 4% engage in binge drinking—consuming more than four drinks at a time—according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    These numbers come from between 2015 and 2017, and are up from 2011 to 2013. In the earlier period, a little over one in 10 women drank while pregnant with a bit over 3% engaged in binge drinking.

    Any amount of alcohol consumption while pregnant is considered to be unsafe for the developing embryo or fetus by the CDC. 

    Rates of drinking while pregnant appear to be associated with stress levels. Unmarried women were found to be twice as likely to consume alcohol during pregnancy and three times as likely to binge drink, and researchers pointed to the “financial stress associated with being the sole provider as well as lack of social support” as a possible factor. The youngest age group surveyed, ages 18-24, were also the most likely to binge drink. However, the age group most likely to drink at all was the oldest, ages 35-44.

    In spite of the many warnings against drinking while pregnant, the idea that it’s safe for pregnant women to drink small amounts persists. However, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, even a single glass of wine increases the risk of health problems and fetal or infant death.

    “There is no safe amount of alcohol when a woman is pregnant,” says their fetal alcohol syndrome FAQ page. “Evidence-based research has found that drinking even small amounts of alcohol while pregnant can increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity, or sudden infant death syndrome.”

    These risks increase substantially the more a pregnant woman’s blood alcohol level increases, making binge drinking even once during pregnancy more dangerous than an occasional single drink.

    At the same time, a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2017 found that drinking and alcohol dependence are on the rise in the U.S., particularly among women and people of color.

    The study found that “high-risk drinking,” defined the same as binge drinking in the CDC survey, increased by 58% among women from 2002 to 2013.

    The CDC survey also found that women who engaged in binge drinking before becoming pregnant were more likely to do so during pregnancy.

    To address the problem, the CDC recommends regulating the number of stores that sell alcohol in a given area, screening and counseling for “unhealthy alcohol use” for all adults 18 and older, and “alcohol use screening for all women seeking obstetric-gynecologic care, including counseling patients that there is no known safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • 1 in 12 Americans Have Alcohol Use Disorder

    1 in 12 Americans Have Alcohol Use Disorder

    Seven times more Americans deal with alcohol use disorder than opioid use disorder.

    The opioid crisis fills our newsfeeds day after day, but at the same time Americans are grappling with the addictive nature of another, totally legal substance: alcohol. 

    According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 17.6 million Americans—1 in 12—have alcohol use disorder. Despite its prevalence, few people realize how widespread alcoholism is. In addition to people with alcohol use disorder, even more Americans report problematic drinking habits. 

    “Varying degrees exist, from mild to severe, depending on the number of symptoms a person experiences. But a powerful craving for alcohol, despite its consequences, is common across that spectrum,” Linda Searing wrote for The Washington Post. 

    This means that 7 times more Americans deal with alcohol use disorder than deal with opioid use disorder, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.

    In addition, more people are dying from alcohol-related causes: 88,000 Americans perish each year from alcohol-related causes, compared with 72,000 who die from opioid overdoses (although opioid overdose rate is likely underreported, research has shown). That makes alcohol use the third-leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the United States. 

    Like opioid addiction, alcoholism is also increasing. Last November, USA Today reported that between 2007 and 2017 the death rate from alcohol increased 24%. Among women, the death rate increased a staggering 85%. 

    “The story is that no one has noticed this,” said Max Griswold, who compiled data on the trend for the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. “It hasn’t really been researched before.”

    Psychologist Benjamin Miller said that because alcohol is legal and socially accepted, people aren’t as wary of its dangers. 

    “Culturally, we’ve made it acceptable to drink but not to go out and shoot up heroin,” Miller said. “A lot of people will read this and say ‘What’s the problem?’”

    In addition to alcohol’s health effects, abusing alcohol can also have secondary effects on loved ones living with or around people with alcohol use disorder.

    The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence estimates that half of American adults have a close loved one with alcohol use disorder, while 10% of children live with at least one parent who is an alcoholic. 

    “Parental alcohol use disorders put children at greater risk of experiencing abuse or neglect and developing mood disorders,” Pew Trusts writes. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Could Being Forced To Appear Happy At Work Lead To Heavy Drinking?

    Could Being Forced To Appear Happy At Work Lead To Heavy Drinking?

    A new study examined the drinking habits of individuals who regularly interact with the public.

    If you feel forced to put on a happy face at work, you may be more likely to drink heavily after a shift, new research has concluded. 

    Researchers at Penn State and the University at Buffalo examined the drinking habits of individuals who work often with members of the public, PennState News reports. This included professions such as those in the food service industry, nurses and teachers. 

    In doing so, the researchers found that individuals who often had to play up positive emotions, such as smiling, or push aside negative feelings were more likely to take part in heavier drinking after work. 

    Alicia Grandey, professor of psychology at Penn State, tells PennState News that these results may mean employers in such industries may want to reassess the manner in which they ask employees to act. 

    Grandey adds that the exact reason for the connection is unknown, but she thinks that by keeping emotions in check and putting on a positive face for customers, individuals may be using large amounts of self-control that they later let go of when drinking.

    “Smiling as part of your job sounds like a really positive thing, but doing it all day can be draining,” Grandey said. “In these jobs, there’s also often money tied to showing positive emotions and holding back negative feelings. Money gives you a motivation to override your natural tendencies, but doing it all day can be wearing.”

    In conducting the study, the researchers examined data from the National Survey of Work Stress and Health, specifically from phone interviews with 1,592 employees in the U.S. The data they studied had to do with how often employees took part in “surface acting,” meaning they faked or suppressed emotions, as well as how often and how much they drank after work. 

    Additionally, researchers took into account the amount of autonomy individuals felt they had at work, as well as how impulsive they were.  

    Researchers concluded that employees who worked with the public tended to drink more after work than those who did not interact with the public.

    “The relationship between surface acting and drinking after work was stronger for people who are impulsive or who lack personal control over behavior at work,” Grandey said. “If you’re impulsive or constantly told how to do your job, it may be harder to rein in your emotions all day, and when you get home, you don’t have that self-control to stop after one drink.”

    Grandey also notes that for those who consider their work to be rewarding, surface acting may not be as problematic. 

    “Nurses, for example, may amplify or fake their emotions for clear reasons,” Grandey said. “They’re trying to comfort a patient or build a strong relationship. But someone who is faking emotions for a customer they may never see again, that may not be as rewarding, and may ultimately be more draining or demanding.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Alcohol Affect Your Brain Even After You Become Sober?

    Can Alcohol Affect Your Brain Even After You Become Sober?

    Researchers set out to discover if prior heavy alcohol use continued to affect the brain’s white matter in sobriety.

    Brain damage caused by excessive alcohol use continues for at least six weeks after someone stops drinking, a new study has found. This reverses previous thinking that the brain-changing effects of alcohol stop as soon as a person sobers up. 

    “Until now, nobody could believe that in the absence of alcohol, the damage in the brain would progress,” Dr. Santiago Canals, co-author of the study, told Medical News Today. 

    The study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, examined the brains of 91 men with alcohol use disorder and 36 men without alcohol use disorder, who were used as a control group. The drinkers were hospitalized and in a detox program so that their alcohol intake could be carefully monitored. 

    “An important aspect of the work is that the group of patients participating in our research [is] hospitalized in a detoxification program, and their consumption of addictive substances is controlled, which guarantees that they are not drinking any alcohol. Therefore, the abstinence phase can be followed closely,” Canals said. 

    The researchers found that changes to the brain’s white matter—which affects communication between different regions of he brain—continued even after the participants got sober. 

    “[T]here is a generalized change in the white matter, that is, in the set of fibers that communicate [with] different parts of the brain. The alterations are more intense in the corpus callosum and the fimbria,” Canals explained. 

    He went on, “The corpus callosum is related to the communication between both hemispheres. The fimbria contains the nerve fibers that [enable the communication between] the hippocampus, a fundamental structure for the formation of memories, the nucleus accumbens, and the prefrontal cortex.”

    These areas of the brain control reward-seeking, decision making, and understanding of socially-acceptable behavior. 

    In addition to monitoring humans, the research team looked at how rats’ brains changed in early abstinence. The team was able “to monitor the transition from normal to alcohol dependence in the brain, a process that is not possible to see in humans,” said Silvia De Santis, lead study author. The animal research confirmed what researchers say in humans. 

    Researchers are beginning to understand how excessive drinking can have long-term effects on the brain.

    Another study published recently found that alcohol use by teens was linked to smaller brain volume, something that can have effects on cognition. This may also be associated with heavier drinking in adulthood. 

    “Thus, developmental brain volume changes in the span of late adolescence to young adulthood in macaques is altered by excessive alcohol, an insult (the cause of some kind of physical or mental injury) that may be linked to the continuation of heavy drinking throughout later adult life,” study authors wrote. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Are Millennials Redefining Sobriety?

    Are Millennials Redefining Sobriety?

    Millennials may be choosing to lean into moderation more than other generations. 

    American consumers have traditionally been divided into two camps: those who drink, and those who abstain completely—often because they are in recovery. However, young Americans seem to be pushing back on that dichotomy by taking a more moderate and measured approach to drinking. 

    Sam Thonis, who operates a sober bar, told The Atlantic that he has seen a change in attitude among patrons.  

    “It feels to me like the older people are, the more they see [our bar] as a thing for sober people. They see it as black or white—you drink or you don’t drink,” Thonis said. “With younger people, there’s a lot more receptiveness to just not drinking sometimes.”

    Despite more talk about less drinking, it’s hard to measure the trend. 

    “There isn’t any great statistical evidence yet that young adults have altered their drinking habits on a grand scale,” Amanda Mull writes for The Atlantic. “Changes in habit often lag behind changes in attitude, and national survey data on drinking habits reflect only small declines in heavy alcohol use.” 

    Cassie Schoon, of Denver, said that she started to reexamine her drinking habits after a particularly bad hangover following election night 2016. 

    “I was in this meeting feeling absolutely miserable, and I was like, You know, this is not what grown-ups do,” she said. 

    Today, she still drinks, but much less than she used to. Rather than always meeting friends at a bar, she is just as likely to meet at a museum or for coffee, the 37-year-old said. 

    “[Drinking] has to be more of an occasion for me now, like someone’s birthday or a girls’ night. So it’s once every couple of weeks instead of a weekly occurrence.”

    Leanne Vanderbyl, of San Francisco, had a similar realization as she aged. “It wasn’t until I hit my 30s that I realized that alcohol was no longer my friend.”

    For others, the decision to drink less is about weighing priorities. 

    “I’ve already calculated how much I’m saving by not drinking, and I’m thinking about where I can put that money now,” said Alex Belfiori, 30. 

    Therapist Britta Stark, who works with people with addiction, said that many millennials have healthy self-care practices in place, so they’re not left reaching for the bottle after a stressful day. 

    “There does come a time when there has to be some introspection. Folks in the millennial generation have maybe a better sense of balance,” she said. “Some do yoga or meditation or are physically active, so they don’t need to find stimulation and stress reduction in substances.”

    View the original article at thefix.com