If you drink alcohol to change the way you feel – you are drinking too much!
Weekly, individuals come to see me in my hypnotherapy practice in Atlanta Georgia with the thought that they might be drinking just a little too much. Of course they will protest that they couldn’t be an alcoholic, but maybe they ought to cut back a bit. It’s not rare to find those that are drinking two bottles of wine per night! At first they insist that their marriage, job, family relationships and their life are perfect. But if that is the case, why are they drinking wine, beer or liquor instead of tea, water or coffee?
They are drinking to change the way they feel! They don’t seem to want to admit that they are unhappy. They don’t seem to grasp that if they need alcohol to feel better – drinking is not the problem… it is a symptom of the real problem or problems. Would that person want a doctor operating on them that had drank two bottles of wine the night before? Would they want a dentist to do a root canal or perform cosmetic surgery on them who had drank a fifth of vodka every five days? Would they want to be in an airliner that was being flown by a pilot that only drank a couple of martinis before take off? Of course not. They realize that other people have diminished abilities when they drink – but somehow they don’t think that they might not be as good of a marriage partner, a parent or a son or daughter, an employee or a supervisor if they are staying at home and consuming alcohol in front of the TV or on their deck until they fall asleep.
If one is drinking to feel better… one is drinking too much! Period! It’s kind of like smoking cigarettes – the person that smokes feels that only others will develop cancer. Folks come in routinely drinking ten or more bottles of beer a night and think that’s normal and alright for their body and mind – it isn’t. They are damaging their body as it wasn’t designed to run on alcohol.
There is a fog from drinking. That fog gives one altered personalities and diminished capabilities that doesn’t disappear overnight even if that person is not hung over and feels sober. Alcohol has a half life that stays with one and builds if that person is drinking on a daily or every other day basis. An individual that drinks in excess – will have a brain that is 17% smaller than if they didn’t.
The liver is the body’s filter. It’s used to filter fats, medicines (even like Motrin) and just about everything else. One really needs a liver to live – and there is no such thing as dialysis for a liver. Your liver should be pliable and have good tone in order to function properly. Excess drinking will destroy it, and if those on the transplant committee feel that the candidate is an alcoholic – even if the candidate doesn’t share that opinion… they can’t get onto the waiting list for a new liver.
There are safer and much better ways to feel good. If you could or might be drinking to excess and slowly killing yourself or functioning beneath your potential, call me for a complimentary consultation and lets find out whats broke and fix it. Lets not waste your consultation time by defending why you drink – lets fix whatever the real problem is.