Healthy Living
Treatment Expert: Don’t Let Holidays Delay Addiction Treatment for Yourself or a Loved One
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We all want to be festive and celebrate the holidays with family around us. However, alcohol and substance use disorders can ramp up over the holiday season resulting in a greater need for treatment. An estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
— an announcement from Recovery Centers of America
In a study by Alcohol Monitoring Systems on alcohol consumption by high-risk drivers during the holiday season, violations jumped 33 percent compared to the rest of the year, and excessive drinking and increased rates of DUI injuries and deaths occurred even despite the drivers’ knowledge that they were being monitored. “If you have a loved one who needs to get help for an alcohol or drug addiction, the time to act is now and not after the holidays,” according to Trish Caldwell, a therapist with 25 years of experience in family therapy, trauma and substance use disorders by adolescents and young adults. She is also the family services director for Recovery Centers of America. “There are so many triggers at this time of year that can push a person in active addiction into a downward spiral or a relapse that can be deadly,” Caldwell said.