Colin Perriss: The Politics of Alcohol – Anything But The Truth

Colin Perriss: The Politics of Alcohol – Anything But The Truth: "The alcohol policies from the main parties are worryingly similar although of course we will be told that they are all radically differ..."

Even Medical Professionals Cannot Avoid Addiction to Alcohol

I'm not surprised to learn that medical professionals are finding themselves addicted to mind altering drugs including alcohol.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1277955/Special-Investigation-Why-ARE-doctors-addicted-drink-drugs.html?ITO=1490

But I am still surprised and often flabbergasted at the complete lack of targeted education about mind altering drugs, including alcohol, and why we really use them.

Time and time again we are told that we should 'drink responsibly' even though all alcoholics will have started out as being 'responsible drinkers'

It seems that we also assume that we will always and without fail be able to stay within the limits that we have set ourselves, each and every time we drink alcohol. This is despite the fact that even 'responsible drinkers' will have lost control of their alcohol intake at least one occasion, usually more. When asked why this has happened they usually have abosolutely no idea.

We have been using alcohol and yes I do mean using it, for so long that we do it without question, with little thought and adopt the 'sheep mentality' of following the flock and just doing what most people do.
When was the last time that we seriously questioned our behaviour around this activity?, or is it just too bigger question for us to contemplate?

Let us just say for example that after conclusive research we decided that drinking a poisonous mind altering substance is not actually normal after all. The fact that it 'tastes good' is either acquired or it is an illusion, and that actually it would be better practice to deal with the issues that lead us to use alcohol, instead of drinking it.

Truth is that the Global alcohol industry is a fast moving 'freight train' that would be difficult to stop, and who from any of the political parties will be brave enough to suggest that perhaps we need to look at classifying alcohol in line with other mind altering drugs that are currently illegal?

I would suggest that we will hear that people 'deserve' a drink and that they don't want to be told what to do. I agree that people should be responsible for their own decisions and actions but at the same time those very people need a better understanding of what is really going on and that 'responsible drinking' may actually be a myth. Is it not true that because of the mind altering nature of alcohol we can never be sure that we  won't actually decide to be irresponsible after alcohol is in our system?I

Is poisoning yourself with alcohol rather than dealing with your issues and problems ultimately more rewarding? Probably not, but if some of the professionals aren't even getting the message, what does that say to the rest of the population?

In my opinion we need better education and a serious debate based on the facts of the matter, who will be brave enough to speak first?

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Is 'Drowning Our Sorrows' good advice from our Chancellor George Osborne?

Well, as you would probably expect me to say, no I don't believe that it is good advice!

You may have heard George Osborne during his budget speech announce that the proposed increase in duty on cider is to be cancelled. He then suggested that in relation to the coming England game, we could take advantage by either celebrating or drowning our sorrows. This may have been intended as a light hearted interlude, but it does have serious implications.

Previously Mr Osborne confirmed that there will be no increase in alcohol duty but that it would be looked at later in the year with a view to tackling 'binge drinking' and 'underage consumption'

You may notice that there is a void between the intended light hearted comments and the alcohol issues being targeted. I would suggest that the void is a lack of knowledge and a coherent message about alcohol. Unfortunately the chancellor failed to make the connection, and without the knowledge and understanding, it is an easy mistake to make.

Alcohol is a mind altering drug, and works every time if you want to quickly change how you view reality. Interestingly we are often taught by our parents and peers to 'self medicate' with alcohol. If the news is good we are encouraged to drink alcohol, if the news is bad we are encouraged to drink alcohol. In fact during any emotional event that you care to name during out adult lives, alcohol is somewhere in the mix.

The big question is why?

Alcohol reduces our ability and performance. So if we really are having great time' why would we want to use alcohol to dilute it? One reason is that we are taught that alcohol somehow enhances our already 'good' experience, when the truth is that it actually reduces it and progressively dumbs us down. But how can this possibly be true when our elders and society taught us?, please remember that our elders once taught us that the earth was flat and that burning alleged witches at  the stake was 'normal' behaivior

Alcohol is a recreational drug, not that different in many ways to other recreational drugs, except of course that its legal. We are dealing with a powerful, toxic, legally available drug that is responsible for the deaths of more than 22,000 people a year in the UK, and that does not included the related indirect deaths such as accidents and violence.

We use alcohol to change the way we think and feel, usually because someone we respect taught us and it's considered 'normal'. So please bear in mind that when we drink alcohol, we deliberately drink a poisonous toxic substance that always damages some part of our body, progressively reduces our ability, and we have to buy it! Realistically we can achieve the objectives we use alcohol for by changing our thinking  but we are not usually taught how to do it as part of our upbringing. So generation after generation, we just keep on doing it! without too much in the way of questioning.

I would suggest that if we apply some intelligent thought to what we are really doing, and disregard the past, we may find that something that we have done for thousands of years is actually all a bit odd.

I am ready to work with the UK government to provide real understanding and some low cost alternatives that really work.

I'll let you know if I get the call!

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Will Views on Alcohol Change If We Really Do Elect A New Government?

Only a few hours to go and it all seems very frantic on the election front, I've heard about the economy, Trident, immigration, and hung parliaments, but not much about alcohol.

As the results come in I'm wondering if alcohol will be the first choice to do some 'mind altering' as celebrations and commiserations get underway. Will it be shock and awe, or just more of the same? We'll know soon enough and hopefully the political 'punch and Judy' show will settle into the serious business of making a real difference to the lives of so many people who so desperately need some hope.

To date the political views on alcohol have been generally the same across the three main parties. They all seek to control the alcohol intake of the population by increasing prices and providing fear based messages about the damage alcohol causes to health and so on. So we can expect to see new labelling with stark warnings and 'problem' drinks such as high alcohol content cider and beer increasing in price.

In my opinion these actions will have little effect. I believe that the research that they are based on is straight out of text books but are reliant on the respondents telling the truth. That in itself can be a big problem with alcohol, I told lies about my drinking and almost without exception all of my clients have admitted lying about their alcohol intake when asked.

In our society, the alcohol is not the problem, it is a symptom of a much bigger problem that makes our economic challenges look relatively straightforward. Humans use alcohol to change the way they feel and think in the short term, and more and more drinking is being hidden away and takes place among the politicians favourite 'the hard working families'. Problem 'solving'  is focused on the young 'binge drinkers' and obvious alcoholics while the bigger and growing area of 'middle class' alcohol misuse is largely ignored. From what I see that bubble is ready to burst and may require a dramatic re-think on exactly what a 'problem drinker' really is.

Fact is we need to consider whether drinking alcohol is normal and responsible. Just because we have been drinking alcohol for centuries doesn't make it 'normal'. Consider for a moment what we do. We drink a toxic, poisonous mind altering substance, that gives us no nutrition, no return on our financial investment, damages our bodies and collectively costs us billions a year in health care. Is that really 'normal'?

Will the next government be courageous enough to accept to fully understand and come to terms with why we endorse the use of the recreational drug we call alcohol but not cannabis? What exactly is the difference? Is it perhaps that one produces tax revenue jobs and export income? Is that why we call it normal? Is anyone brave enough to admit that perhaps that could just be that simple? Is the King in the altogether?

I am hoping that whoever end up being elected will be honest and truthful about the fact that they don't really understand what is going on with the UK's alcohol issues.That admission in itself will be a starting point for a strategy to change millions of lives in a way that we can all embrace.

Binge Drinking Back in the News

'Binge Drinking' is back in the news with this article telling us that it is well established.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8631099.stm

Yet again the focus is put on the activity of drinking large amounts of alcohol, but even the researchers appear to admit that they have no idea why people get drunk. Additionally the research is conducted in town centres where it seems to be assumed that most binge drinking takes place.

I would suggest from experience that much of the UK's binge drinking goes unnoticed. Much of it actually takes place at home after work, after business meeting and conferences and at many weekend social gatherings such as barbecues and parties.

But because this goes unnoticed and it seems under researched, the perception would appear to be that it is less of a problem, if it's really considered a problem at all. Much of the consequence of 'privately' binge drinking is kept private so we hear some much less about it. For example we don't hear about the relationship breakdowns, dismissals, damaged reputations and lost work days from what is actually a symptom of a much deeper problem.

Lies and alcohol are regular partners. Many people drinking way outside the 'safe' limits lie about how much they are really drinking when asked. This is often through embarrassment, sometimes they simply don't know how much they are drinking, more worrying is that most don't know why they are using alcohol. Unfortunately research does not telling what is really going on as it relies on people being honest when answering the questions. How sure can we be that people are telling the truth when under the influence of a mind altering drug such as alcohol?

Binge drinking alcohol is a symptom of  a number of serious underlying problems that we face in the UK. The economic situation, the Globalisation of industry meaning less income streams available to all generations but especially the younger ones. Our young people are encouraged to 'work hard' by our politicians but many recognise that working hard and being paid the minimum wage will not get them their independence, a place to live and the possibility of a secure future. Many feel hopeless and just want it all to 'go away', binge drinking temporarily creates the illusion that it has.

In my view we have to face up to the fact that we have some very serious and deep rooted problems in the way our society operates and binge drinking is a symptom that. We need to take a close look at why so many of our population are using alcohol to 'self medicate' their lives and start to admit the uncomfortable truth that something somewhere is very badly wrong.

The Politics of Alcohol - Same Tired Ideas in Different Packaging

The manifesto's are out for all to see and the alcohol policies from the main parties are worryingly similar although of course we will be told that they are all radically different from each other.

They all have an underlying theme of attempting to control alcohol consumption, through price, the threat of damage to our health or to suffer the wrath of our judicial system if we get on the wrong side of the law.

Problem is they are all still caught up in cosy world of 'responsible drinking' where a couple of glasses of wine are enjoyed by the fireside with the one we love in our comfortable country retreat. It would appear that many of the policy makers and government advisers live in this exact environment. In the real world where people are using alcohol to self medicate a range of complex issues, this scenario will seem a million miles away, and it is.

It seems that there is a complete lack of any understanding from our politicians as to why we have an alcohol problem in the UK. They seem to be under the illusion that people drink it because it is cheap, the uncomfortable truth is that many will be drinking it because they are in mental pain, caused by living in our often challenging society. They use alcohol to numb the pain because they simply don't know what else to do. None of the manifesto's that I have read have an answer for this and do not even seem to acknowledge it's existence.

There is also the illusion that we can guarantee that 'responsible drinking' can be achieved by everyone all the time by sticking to the governments recommended guidelines. The very same guidelines described as 'useless'  and an 'intelligent guess' in this article that appeared in 'The times' http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2697975.ece

Because alcohol is a mind altering drug, once you start drinking it, nothing is guaranteed. Apart from that even if it is only slightly, your mind will be in a different place than before you drank it. That might just be enough for you to decide that you will have just one more drink after all. After that who knows?

How Many Steps Do You Need To Take To Recover From Alcoholism?

It could be argued that only one step is necessary to overcome alcoholism and alcohol addiction. Stop drinking it.

The action of stopping drinking alcohol is really quite straightforward. It takes a number of combined actions to drink it in the first place, so not drinking it takes less physical effort. But with alcoholism, the alcohol is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem, and unless the problem or problems are addressed the desire to drink will continue.

In my view there are two steps required to successfully stop drinking alcohol permanently, but it can take as many steps as the individual perceives it will take for them to 'stop'. I would like to point out that there is a big difference between choosing not to drink alcohol from a place of knowledge, and abstaining from it through fear and ignorance of it.

I would suggest that it is important the that the alcoholic take personal responsibility for drinking alcohol. It is after all a choice, although from personal experience the choices can appear limited when looking at the world from an alcoholic place.

Alcohol is a mind altering drug, so it affects how we think, how we feel and the decisions that we make when under the influence of it. The impact of alcohol on individual people varies and is governed by the chemical and biological factors as well as the spiritual and emotional. But one thing is sure, the more of it you drink the more it will affect you, and if you continue to keep drinking it you will build tolerance to it. That means that it will take progressively more alcohol to get the 'same effect'.

Stopping drinking alcohol suddenly when there is an established biological dependency on it is potentially dangerous and if there is any doubt then a medical professional should be consulted before just stopping.

By not introducing mind altering drugs into our bodies we live in reality, we experience the World the way it really is. For many that have been drinking alcohol to avoid living in the real World or to at least get a 'break' from it, stopping drinking can be a frightening and disturbing prospect, I know, because it was for me.

We often know that we are going to have to work on changing our lives, sometimes radically, we will face challenging decisions. I have seen cases where individuals choose to be alcoholic rather than tell their partner that they just don't love them. People who are alcoholic because of a past event that they have never come to terms with and avoid doing so because of fear of pain and hurt.

If however we choose not to take action and to really 'sort our lives out' then there is likely to be some resulting symptom and for many that is drinking alcohol  Why?, because it is legal, socially acceptable and still considered as 'responsible' drug use in an attempt make our lives more 'bearable'

It is only possible to lose control over alcohol by drinking it and that is a choice. Stopping drinking alcohol and living in reality 24/7 is also a choice. Ultimately we do have Power, but sometimes we just choose not to use it. http://www.enp4.co.uk/