If the big beautiful gift of a new year hasn’t already motivated you to re-reevaluate your relationship with alcohol, perhaps some interesting findings from a recent study on alcohol related deaths in the US will do the trick. Research published on January 12, 2020 demonstrates that “the number of death certificates indicating alcohol involvement in mortality in the United States doubled between 1999 and 2017.” The research also revealed that while “more males than females died of alcohol‐related causes each year, the increase over time was larger for women than for men.”
While casual drinking is widely accepted as a normal social behavior in the U.S., a 50% increase in the number of alcohol related deaths in less than two decades makes it clear; we’ve gone too far and we need to make a change. Feeling motivated now? That’s a great start! Before you dive into a sobriety-focused New Year’s challenges, I encourage you to find your “why” or a personal reason you want to make changes. Consider committing to simply learning more about the very real and harmful effects of over consumption as a first step.
Wondering if you’re drinking too much, what’s a standard drink, what is excessive, or where to find help? Use the list of resources to learn more about alcohol consumption and its effects on your body. Then make a decision to commit to healthier alcohols related habits with the knowledge.
- Center for Disease Control Alcohol Facts Sheets
- American Heart Association – Alcohol & A Healthy Lifestyle
- Online Therapy.com – addiction, counseling, family-resource
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Need a hand setting goals and building healthy habits? Explore my Health Coaching Solutions. First, we’ll paint a picture of your ideal healthy lifestyle. Next, we’ll choose a habit or two that won’t support that lifestyle. From there we’ll examine and challenge thinking patterns that may be the foundation for those habits. We’ll learn new information to keep us motivated and we’ll build confidence with lots of opportunities for progress and wins. We’ll take an organized approach to changing behavior, making monumental goals into bite-sized successes.
Sources: White, Aaron M., et al. “Using Death Certificates to Explore Changes in Alcohol‐Related Mortality in the United States, 1999 to 2017.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 7 Jan. 2020, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acer.14239.