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Helping You Live a Healthier Life

April is National Alcohol Awareness Month         

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes the following four symptoms:

· Craving— a strong need, or urge to drink

· Loss of Control—not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun

· Physical dependence—withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking

· Tolerance—the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get “high”

 

Alcohol abuse and alcoholism cut across gender, race, and nationality.  In the U.S., 17.6 million people abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent.  In general more men than women have alcohol problems and alcohol problems are highest among young adults ages 18-29 and lowest among adults ages 65 and over.

For more information, to educate yourself, or to get help, please visit The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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Text Box: Warning Signs of Alcohol Abuse If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you may have a problem with alcohol: Do you drink alone when you feel sad or angry? Does your drinking ever make you late for work? Does your drinking worry your family? Do you ever drink after telling yourself you won’t? Do you ever forget what you did while drinking? Do you get headaches or have a hangover after drinking? Source: How to Cut Down on Your Drinking Text Box: Don’t Drink and Drive! Every day, 36 people in the U.S. die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly 1/3 of all traffic related deaths in the US. PLEASE protect yourself, your family, and your friends. Plan ahead. Always designate a non-drinking driver. Take the keys. Do not let a friend drive if they are impaired. Call a cab.

For more traffic safety facts, visit  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Help Prevent Underage Drinking

 

Alcohol is the most frequently used drug among American youth.  Approximately 77% of all high school seniors have had an alcoholic drink.

 

In 2002, over 6000 people died due to underage drinking related causes (car crashes, homicides, suicides, fires, and drowning, etc).

 

In 2004, 24% of all fatal car crashes among 15-20 year olds were alcohol related.

 

People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until age 21.

 

Approximately 900 lives are SAVED each year because of the 21 minimum  drinking age law.

 

 

Visit The Cool Spot to learn how to educate your children on the facts about alcohol, the dangers of peer pressure, and the right to resist. 

Text Box: STRESS AWARENESS

April is Stress Awareness Month, which makes a great time to really focus on becoming aware of the stress in your life, its effects on your body, and ways to minimize it. 

 

Top Causes of Stress

¨ Jobs and the Workplace

¨ Financial Problems

¨ Personal Relationships

¨ Children

¨ Daily Hassles/Being too busy

 

 

Here are some tips on how to reduce stress at work and help increase your job satisfaction.

 

1. Be clear about job requirements.  It’s hard to do a good job at your work if you don’t know what the requirements are.  You can gain a clearer view of what you need to do with  assertive communication skills.  Learn to speak up and you’ll improve your work life and your relationship, and decrease your risk for burnout.

 

2. Find rewards and recognition.  We all need to feel rewarded for what we do.  If your job doesn’t have built in opportunities for recognition, or if rewards are infrequent, do something for yourself.  Take yourself to a movie, have a home spa experience, talk to a friend—these things can nurture you emotionally and remind you of the importance of the work you do.

 

3. Maintain a balanced lifestyle.  Keeping balance is important.  In order to maintain balance, take a current overview of your lifestyle and see which areas are out of balance.  Do you have enough time for relationships, hobbies, sleep, self-care, exercise, healthy eating, and other important features of a healthy lifestyle in addition to your work responsibilities?  If not, look at your priorities and make changes so that your life reflects them better.

 

4. Think positive.  You can usually change your experience of your current circumstances by changing your attitude about them.  Developing an optimistic point of view can help you be more productive and less stressed.

 

5.          Know yourself and work with your personality.  Some questions to ask yourself              are: Do you like to work toward deadlines or do you like your tasks in a steady              stream? Do you like to work as part of a team or independently? Do you like              things structured or loose and variable?  Do you believe in what you do and is it              important that you do?  These questions could give you a better picture of what              kind of work would be ideal for you.

Learn more about stress management HERE!
Text Box: Learn more about Parkinson’s Disease at Knowledge is power, and hope is everything.

National Parkinson Foundation