Alcohol and drug addiction is a lifelong habit that never truly goes away even with people who have been sober for years. Drugs and alcohol have a very negative impact on your body. Both can destroy your health, your financial security and your relationships with those close to you. Heavy drinking is linked to a wide range of negative effects on your health. Almost every system in your body is affected and you are prone to liver disease or cirrhosis of liver, brain damage or dementia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and cancers of head, neck, breast, colon and liver.
Heavy drinking and use of drugs can also lead to various other personal negative consequences. It significantly increases your chances of becoming the victim of an injury as intoxication greatly increases your risk of injuring yourself or being injured by others. Alcohol is found to be a major factor in fatal highway crashes, accidents, suicides, fatal falls, sexual assaults, trauma injuries, fatal fires, drowning and homicides. You also run the risk of developing other personal problems such as losing your driving license, losing your job and having problems with relationships. If you drink heavily during pregnancy, you increase the risk of your baby developing fetal disorders.
Temptation to take alcohol and drugs may be there but if you think about the negative impact of both on your body and focus on the downsides, you will be able to have greater control over your urges and can more readily say no when the chance to drink arises. Remove any temptations in your immediate surroundings and get rid of bottles of alcohol and drugs. Avoid going to places where you might be tempted to indulge. Stay away from friends or family who encourage you to drink.
Addicts should take up activities to fill their time. Boredom and unstructured free time can lead to a relapse. You can prevent that by finding healthy things like exercise programmes, new hobbies and fun social events that do not involve alcohol. Avoid alcohol to lead a healthy and happy life.
