More and more people have been consuming harmful levels of alcohol since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. When someone drinks a large amount of alcohol, they risk damaging multiple parts of the body. It is particularly toxic for the liver, brain, heart, stomach, and pancreas – as well as seriously affecting one’s mental health.
Every year, Macmillan run’s a Sober October campaign to encourage people to go alcohol-free in October to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Find out more on how you can join in here.
If you think that your drinking has gone beyond your control, remember it is dangerous for people with serious drinking problems to stop drinking alcohol completely without professional help. At Parkland Place we can offer alcohol rehab treatment. It is never too late, and there is never any shame in asking for help.
Heavy drinking can impact both someone’s home life and work life. Relationships can begin to see fractures, and performance at work can suffer, especially if this person is finding it hard to cope with their responsibilities.
Why go sober for October?
Having a month free of alcohol will give you the opportunity to review your drinking habits. It will help you to realise how alcohol actually affects your life, health and wellbeing. This will give you the opportunity to think about how you may want to change your relationship with alcohol.
How will I benefit from going sober for October?
Within the first week, you should be able to notice an improvement in your sleep. When you have consumed alcohol, you will usually miss out on the much-needed REM sleep and go straight into a deep sleep. As your sleep improves without the presence of alcohol, you will find that you are more productive, and can control your emotions and behaviour better.
You will also find that you are more hydrated, as when drinking alcohol, you lose four times more liquid than what you consume. Over the month you might find you suffer from fewer headaches and have more energy from being hydrated.
Within the first two weeks, the benefits of better sleep and hydration will continue to rise. Also, you will begin to see a reduction in symptoms like acid reflux. Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and promotes the release of stomach acid which can burn your throat.
Your body might begin shedding some weight as you stop consuming the empty calories. If you stopped drinking a pint of lager every night you would be saving 2520 calories a fortnight.
Within three weeks your blood pressure should start to reduce. Drinking too much alcohol causes this to rise, and lowering it can help to reduce health risks in the future.
Within four weeks of staying away from alcohol, your better hydration will start to show on your skin, helping your complexion along with other conditions such as eczema and dandruff.
Your liver function should also be improved, and it will start to shed excess fat. If your liver is not greatly affected by alcohol, it should recover in 4-8 weeks. By the end of the month, you are likely to have saved around 5040.
For details on how we can assist you regarding alcohol addiction treatment please contact us for a free assessment.
