A Therapist Speaks: Problematic Drinking Looks Different for Everyone

“They say some alcohol is actually good for you.”

“I don’t drink that much.”

“I could stop drinking if I really wanted to, so I can’t have a problem. Right?”

As apsychiatrist，当他们大声思考他们的饮酒习惯时，我从客户和朋友那里听到所有这些东西。

现实是，我个人或对待专业的许多人对饮酒有多少了解。当然，这疾病控制和预防的中心（CDC）有指导方针, which recommend less than two drinks a day for men and less than one a day for women. And there’s a lot of research out there that attempts to nail down what the right amount of alcohol is.

But there’s not a one-size-fits-all amount of alcohol that’s problematic. Everyone has different physical and mental health risk factors that affect this amount. Problematic drinking looks different for everyone.

As we enter the holiday season — a time of increased alcohol consumption — it’s important to recognize just how complex the topic of alcohol use is, and to learn how to tap into your intuition about your own drinking habits.

对酒精的研究很复杂

Let’s start with the most confusing part of assessing your own alcohol use — the well-known advice that a glass a day is good for you.

Several studies, including a研究发表在杂志Circulation表明,适度饮酒,咕咕叫ently defined as one glass per day for women and up to two per day for men — could have someheart healthbenefits.

但这并不意味着酒精整体对你有好处。

As more research on this topic accumulates, it has become clear that although up to one drink per day could have some heart health benefits, any more can be damaging to the heart. For example, areview article published inMayo Clinic Proceedingsfound that drinking too much alcohol increases your高血压的风险, stroke, andatrial fibrillation, among other serious heart issues.

这意味着在对你的酒精有利之间可能有一个非常细微的线路与你有多少钱。

更不用说，对酒精使用的益处的研究大多限于将血液与身体不同部位的心脏和血管。大量的其他研究表明酒精对大多数其他系统和器官都不糟糕in the body. Just one example: Astudy published in September 2018 inThe Lancet表明，醇使用增加了几种癌症的风险，即使每天只有一杯。

In addition to the physical impact, alcohol is tied to a variety of mental health and social issues. These include increased aggression, increased violence, and increased traffic accidents. In the United States, nearly 10,500 people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents in 2016, according to theCDC. This accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths due to traffic accidents.

So even if low levels of alcohol could have benefits for the heart, the overall risks of alcohol likely outweigh the benefits for most people.

Is Alcohol Actually Heart-Healthy?

为了复杂化问题，是否通过专家呼吁您对心脏健康真正有益的饮酒。

已经显示出低水平的酒精可放松血管，降低血压，增加良好水平cholesterol- 和葡萄酒确实含有心健康的抗氧化剂。但是，作为American Heart Association (AHA)指出，有更健康的方式，如锻炼，创造健康的血管。还有更健康的食物，如浆果，含有抗氧化剂。

有趣的是，研究表明，如果你已经从事健康的行为 - 喜欢锻炼,eating nutritiously, and maintaining a healthy weight — adding alcohol may have no additional benefit for the heart. A研究发表于此American Journal of Preventive Medicineindicates that studies about the potential health benefits of moderate drinking “should be interpreted with caution” because of the deleterious toll that alcohol can have on the body in excessive amounts.

When it comes to whether a glass of wine a day can be part of a healthy lifestyle, the AHA’s stance is clear: “The American Heart Association does not recommend drinking wine or any form of alcohol to gain potential health benefits.”

Alcohol Guidelines: A Moving Target?

All of this considered, it’s no big surprise that some authoritative health organizations want to amend existing alcohol guidelines.

提前公布美国农业部2020-2025版和美国卫生和人类服务部（USDA-HHS）美国人的饮食指南——一套啊f guidelines updated every five years — a committee of health experts from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommended that the USDA-HHS reduce its alcohol recommendations to a limit of one glass per day for both men and women.

Although the USDA-HHS opted not to change the recommendation for this edition of the guidelines, it may consider the change in the future. And per the committee’s suggestion, the USDA-HHS did include information on the negative health consequences, including cancer, thought to be associated with as little as one drink per day.

So How Much Alcohol Is Problematic?

饮酒超过现有的指导方针被认为是风险的酒精使用，你应该削减。无法缩回是一个清晰的问题。

But what if you’re someone who stays within the guideline allowed? Is this kind of drinking always okay?

The answer is no. Everyone’s different, and whyyou drink matters.

我们都在身体上和精神上不同，对各种身心健康问题产生不同的危险因素。您可能会意识到饮酒会影响与您的朋友不同的影响。保持健康的体重可能会更加困难。它可能会更多地打断你的睡眠或让你更容易受到影响anxiety,depression, mania, or feelings ofpanic.

These differences are why it’s important to tune in to how alcohol personally affects you, rather than comparing your habits to the habits of others. It’s wise to discuss your risk factors with your doctor or mental health professional to help you weigh your individual risks and benefits of alcohol use.

The reasons you drink are also important when assessing if your alcohol use is an issue. For example, in my experience, people commonly drink to help them fall asleep, to tone downbob bet体育 ，或管理不舒服的情绪，如焦虑，烦躁或低情。这是一个问题，酒精似乎在第一个小时左右似乎有助于帮助。然而，最终，它使所有这些事情变得更糟，导致持续的酒精使用循环和较差的心理健康。

Precarious Alcohol Use Isn’t Always Obvious

作为一般规则，如果你意识到酒精为你服务了某种功能 - 而不是只是有时候用餐或与朋友一起出去 - 这可能是一个问题的标志。

如果你不确定酒精对你产生负面影响或为你服务某种目的，请尝试所谓的非贫认好奇心 - 在自我评估中是好奇但没有评判。这意味着在没有自我批评的情况下质疑你的习惯，这是了解自己的最佳方式之一。

When reaching for a drink, you can start by asking these questions:

• Why do I want to drink right now?
• 我的身体感觉如何？心理上？
• 我想喝多少钱？
• 我实际喝了多少钱？
• 我喝酒后如何感受？

The tricky part is to let yourself answer these questions without additional criticism, such as “I have no self-control” or “I’m useless.”

Continue to do this exercise for several weeks — you could even write it down in a journal or on your phone’s note app. You may see patterns emerge over time. If you realize that you typically reach for a drink when you feel jittery, restless, stressed, sad, or angry, your drinking habits may be problematic.

Similarly, if you find yourself consistently drinking more than you intend to — even if that number is still within the guidelines — try to hold yourself to your intention. If this is too hard, you may want to reach out to your doctor or a mental health professional for help.

底线

Experts are beginning to learn that there may not be any good health reasons to drink alcohol. But this does not mean people will never drink.

So instead of limiting your definition of safe alcohol use to a potentially moving target, tap into how alcohol serves you. While you shouldn’t drink more than the recommended amount of alcohol each day, you may discover very good reasons to drink even less, depending on your own body and mind.

我们爱的资源

如果您认为您可能有饮酒问题，这些资源提供帮助：

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

奈达是一项政府研究所，旨在推进关于酗酒和毒品使用对个人和公众的原因和影响的研究。提供A.研究支持筛选工具列表评估您自己的酒精使用。该列表还包括关于使用烟草和其他物质的问卷。

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

The NIAAA is a government institute that provides information about alcohol's effects on a person’s health and well-being. It also aims to improve how alcohol-related problems are diagnosed, treated, and prevented through research and related initiatives. Check out the NIAAA’sstarter guide for getting help and finding treatmentfor yourself or for a loved one.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA)

SAHMSA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that aims to lessen the impact of substance use and mental illnesses on U.S. communities. It offers afacts and resources sheet，它提供了有关一杯饮料的更多数量的更多信息，过度饮酒看起来像是风险或过度饮酒的迹象。

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

This foundation is the largest nonprofit treatment provider in the United States for alcohol and drug addiction. If you’re in recovery from alcohol use disorder, check out its recommendations formindfulness practices that can aid you in your recovery.