welcome back my friend so we are looking
really to make healthy choices healthy
changes in the new year according to the
CDC an estimated 88,000 people die from
alcohol-related causes every single year
the breakdown on that sixty-two thousand
men and twenty-six thousand women so
three times as many men almost that
makes alcohol the third leading
preventable cause of death in the United
States so joining me now to unpack this
a little bit and offer some help for
folks who are struggling with this dr.
Brian Jackson a doctor of addictive
disorders an executive director of the
Greenfield Center
thank you so much for coming in today
good morning good morning yeah so one of
the questions we were discussing during
the break you know I think people may
drink you know maybe two or three
glasses three times a week but that
isn't necessarily going to mean that
they're addicted to alcohol how do you
kind of delineate the difference well I
try and kick the daylights out of the
obvious if something's causing a problem
it is a problem so if alcohol is causing
problems in your life some of them are
more obvious ie a DUI or you know losing
your job directly related to the alcohol
but family problems is what we see a lot
the next is you know if you actually
absolutely determined for yourself that
you're only going to drink three drinks
and you end up drinking eight really who
has control you or the alcohol and then
the third question would be have you
ever been less than honest about your
drinking so you know somebody comes home
that loves you and cares about you and
says well I'm worried about your
drinking how much did you drink today
and you say to when you had 10 right
people who don't have an issue don't
have to be less than honest right
they're honest about their decisions
when do you realize that hey I can't
take this alone because you know people
are gonna try and they may be successful
and they may fall off I mean when do you
when do you say I really need to seek
some can well I think when I think
intellectually a lot of people know that
it's getting out of hand but until they
absolutely say I can't do this anymore
we say they get sick and tired of being
sick and tired
it's hard to reach out on it's important
to remember that it is an illness it
doesn't define you because I think
there's a lot of you know preconceived
notions about what a person with an
alcohol problem it's abuse problem you
know so many people who function I mean
just recently there have been some
really outspoken public people who come
out and say hey I've had an alcohol
addiction and I functioned fine no one
would even know right that I was
struggling with this and I hear that a
lot you know I'm a functioning alcoholic
but you know and we treat
statistics show that alcoholics are
above average intelligence above average
wage earners but really what level are
you functioning at because the drinking
impairs your sleep so stressors are way
more pronounced you know are you
functioning really as well as you
possibly could at work are you are you
having the best relationships with your
family that you could are there some who
are more predisposed to becoming an
addict person absolutely absolutely it's
a great question because there's a
strong genetic predisposition to this
illness like any other illness you know
if it's in your family genes there's a
good possibility probably 90% of the
people we see there's been a family
history of either some addiction
problems or some mental illness problems
because a lot of times the drinking is
but a symptom of something else people
are self-medicating you know for feeling
uncomfortable with whatever's going on
with them emotionally and if someone's
watching right now and you're sitting
here like that is me it describes me how
do you get them started on the road to
recovery
well the Greenfield Center has been at
the st. Vincent's Hospital in Riverside
for thirty years um you can call us we
can do an evaluation and we can refer
you to the proper you know care just
because you come to see us doesn't
necessarily mean that's the place to be
also there's Alcoholics Anonymous which
you can look up online there's meetings
we're blessed in Northeast Florida have
like 670 meetings a week of Alcoholics
Anonymous but the family members -
there's Allan on out there which is
something to help them I think family
members get sicker a lot of times and
the person who's in their addiction
because they can't control it yeah and
they worry about them thank you no shame
in this either I mean I know no and I
think that's yeah it's really courageous
to get the help that you need absolutely
you know it is an illness and I think
that you know of all the illnesses out
there I would pick this one because if
you take the suggestions and you follow
through you can keep it in remission I
mean unfortunately people get cancer
they do everything they're supposed to
do it goes in the mission and it comes
back so you know you really need to to
take care of yourself and as you heal
everybody
around you heels so it's wonderful to
watch you know when people embrace it
and get into good recovery in they have
way more energy to do the things they
want to do thank you the hope on the
other side that's what we want for you
so if you would like some more
information maybe you're dealing with
addiction maybe you have a loved one who
is call the Greenfield Center they're
gonna work with you they're gonna get
you the resources that you need if
you're like I can't afford this there
are resources for you that number to
call three eight nine three seven eight
four and it's Greenfield Center Jack's
calm appreciate you coming in okay thank
you so much thank over to you