Author: John Carter

TOOLKIT: Alcohol Awareness Month News & Events

Since its inception in 1987, National Alcohol Awareness Month has saved many lives from alcohol-related deaths. Some of the ways the NCADD has made it possible to fight alcoholism is by launching personalized campaigns every year, Alcohol-Free-Weekend encouraging abstinence, and seeking help for someone if they are unable to. The D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and Know Your Limits campaigns have also instilled much-needed information about the harmful effects of alcohol consumption in children from an early age. As a subsidiary of American Addiction Centers, a nationwide provider of treatment facilities, Alcohol.org will also be showcasing the cost alcoholism and addiction can have on your life throughout the entire month of April.

We’ll be helping give a real glimpse into how it can affect your mental and physical health, financial well-being, relationships (family and friends), and what it could mean for your current and future career. Programs like Alcohol Awareness Month exist to ensure that families and communities have the resources, information, and options available to control the crisis of alcoholism. Long-term, excessive drinking of alcohol can gravely affect your health and leads to chronic diseases including high blood pressure, liver disease, digestive problems, and even cancer. Each month we highlight National Health Observances (NHOs) that align with our mission to improve health in the United States. In April, we’re raising awareness about minority health, alcohol awareness, and celebrating public health.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by ODPHP or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. As I discussed in my previous blog post, NIAAA also has an important new website that can help you navigate the often complicated process of choosing treatment for alcohol problems. As a result of the ban, the illegal trade of alcohol booms, leading to the cancellation of the prohibition law.

She was one of the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous and the first woman to have successfully gone through a 12-step group. She founded NCADD to help people like her get counseled and treated for alcoholism and dedicated this group to key medical and scientific research for the community. Encouraged by the massive number of families going into recovery, NCADD marked April to bring about a nationwide change by using communication tools to cultivate awareness about binge drinking and how much more dangerous it can be than just a night of fun.

Alcohol-impaired driving deaths

With this and other National Health Observance toolkits offered on healthfinder.gov, we’ve made it easier for you to make a difference. The toolkits provide resources for organizations like schools, health care providers, health departments, and more to raise awareness about critical public health issues, like the health risks of alcohol. Most adults in the United States who drink alcohol drink moderately and without complications.

1. This year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) will be hosting the 10th annual National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW) from March 30 through April 5, 2020.
2. Alcohol-related problems continue to exact an immense toll on individuals, families, and communities.
3. If you drink excessively, seek medical help to plan a safe recovery as sudden abstinence can be life threatening.
4. NIAAA’s Rethinking Drinking can help you assess your drinking habits and provides information to help you cut back or stop drinking.
5. College administrations and state governments are turning to “creative prevention strategies” to address the epidemic, and Alcohol Awareness Month gives them the platform to spread the message.

Whether you are seeking more information about what AUD is, are thinking about cutting back on alcohol, are a parent looking for information about how to talk to your kids about alcohol, or a health care professional looking for how to serve your patients, NIAAA can help. With this in mind, Alcohol Awareness Month gives public health bodies, community centers, and treatment facilities the chance to increase their efforts to reach people who may not fully appreciate the dangers of unhealthy alcohol consumption. Drinking too much alcohol increases people’s risk of injuries, violence, drowning, liver disease, and some types of cancer. Alcohol Awareness Month is a chance to spread the word about strategies for preventing the misuse or abuse of alcohol.

At the same time, alcohol-related problems are among the most significant public health issues in the country. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) affects about 15 million adults in the United States, and an estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the nation. During Alcohol Awareness Month, please review our website to learn more about how NIAAA supports research and initiatives to generate and disseminate fundamental knowledge about the effects of alcohol on health and well-being, and how we apply that knowledge to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems.

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

In 2017, Frances M. Harding, the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, singled out the alarming rates of alcohol consumption in colleges and universities as an example of why Alcohol Awareness Month is important. Binge drinking is often thought of as a rite of passage, and many fraternities and sororities use alcohol in hazing rituals that often turn deadly. College administrations and state governments are turning to “creative prevention strategies” to address the epidemic, and Alcohol Awareness Month gives them the platform to spread the message. A big part of the work of Alcohol Awareness Month is to point out the stigma that still surrounds alcoholism and substance abuse in general.

By raising awareness about alcohol misuse and abuse, communities, organizations, and health professionals can take action to prevent it, both at home and in the community. The NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator can help you recognize and find high quality treatment for alcohol use disorder. If you drink excessively, seek medical help to plan a safe recovery as sudden abstinence can be life threatening. NIAAA’s Rethinking Drinking can help you assess your drinking habits and provides information to help you cut back or stop drinking. If you recognize any of these symptoms in yourself, it’s time to rethink the role that alcohol plays in your life. NIAAA has some interactive resources to help you examine your drinking patterns further and, if needed, recognize and search for quality care.

Denial in alcoholism is a real disease

This year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) will be hosting the 10th annual National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW) from March 30 through April 5, 2020. Full of educational events across the week, NDAFW will focus on educating teens and families on the myths of substance abuse and addiction with the help on industry experts. These numbers suggest that problematic alcohol use continues to plague our society, and awareness about addiction and its harmful effects on our lives, is necessary in order to protect our loved ones and selves. Binge drinking is when blood alcohol concentration comes to 0,08 g/dL, which happens when a man drinks five glasses and a woman drinks four in about two hours.

This Alcohol Awareness Month is a great opportunity to update your knowledge about alcohol, alcohol use disorder, and their impacts on health and society. Alcohol-related problems continue to exact an immense toll on individuals, families, and communities. In the United States, more than 140,000 people per year die from alcohol misuse, making it one of the leading causes of preventable deaths. Alcohol misuse is linked to more than 200 disease and injury-related conditions, meaning alcohol misuse contributes substantially to health care costs and lost productivity and affects people’s health in ways that they may not realize.

What to Expect During Alcohol Awareness Month

Alcohol Awareness Month is a public health program organized by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence as a way of increasing outreach and education regarding the dangers of alcoholism and issues related to alcohol. The program was started in April 1987 with the intention of targeting college-aged students who might be drinking too much as part of their newfound freedom. It has since become a national movement to draw more attention to the causes and effects of alcoholism as well as how to help families and communities deal with drinking problems. With this and other National Health Observance toolkits offered on healthfinder.gov, we’ve made it easier for you to make a difference. The toolkits provide resources for organizations like schools, health care practices, and health departments to raise awareness about critical public health issues, like the health risks of drinking too much alcohol.

I also encourage you to take a close look at Rethinking Drinking and the Alcohol Treatment Navigator to learn more about AUD and how to find quality care to address it. The Council leverages traditional and social media campaigns during April to draw attention to the causes of alcoholism and the risks of alcohol dependence, and encourages people to talk about this disease. It aims to foster responsible attitudes by designating a month of candid discussions and information sharing, while reaching out to the American public via community-sponsored awareness activities and campaigns designed to prevent alcoholism. NIAAA’s wealth of research-based resources can help cut through the clutter and get at the heart of the issues around alcohol misuse.