Concerns Around Alcohol

Are you concerned about your own or somebody else’s drinking levels?

Sometimes when life gets difficult or we are not coping we can find ourselves turning to alcohol for comfort or to dull our emotional pain. When we drink alcohol frequently our bodies become used to it or “tolerant” of it. Without realising it we can find that we are drinking more and more to achieve the same effect.

We may find ourselves using alcohol to cope with situations or events which lead to unpleasant feelings such as the pain of loss or bereavement, depression, loneliness, fear, anger or frustration. Contrary to popular belief alcohol is a depressant and not a stimulant as it slows down the activity in the brain affecting behaviour, concentration and judgement. This is why we may find ourselves having a drink to unwind, relax and sleep although long term, frequent use leads to the disruption of natural sleep patterns, and can lead to physical damage.

At A Time To Talk Counselling and Coaching Service our counsellors are trained to work with clients who feel that their drinking has become a problem. We can offer help in looking at alcohol consumption, and making informed choices to help change drinking habits. At our initial assessment a full drinking history will be taken and we can look at appropriate drinking goals. We can work together to reduce drinking and to find alternative ways of fulfilling the functions that alcohol performs. This will be done confidentially. We can offer an opportunity to understand the reasons that make you drink inappropriately and look at ways to deal with these particular factors in the future. We would not see clients if they were intoxicated and would therefore be unable to engage in this process.

We strongly advise you to contact your GP if you have any concerns about your alcohol consumption.

For your information the current advised safe drinking levels are 14 units per week for women and 21 units for men, anything over this may have an adverse effect on your health.

When our bodies do not continue to get the amount of alcohol that it has become used to, we can then experience “withdrawal” symptoms ranging from slight discomfort, nausea, sweating and anxiety to tremors and seizures. We may then drink more alcohol in order to relieve the withdrawal symptoms and to feel “normal” again.

If you are experiencing any of the above withdrawal symptoms it could be dangerous to your health to stop drinking straight away, we therefore suggest that you discuss this with your GP.