Waypoint Recovery Center Blog

Often, people with substance use disorders rely on drugs and alcohol to cope with unpleasant feelings like stress, sadness, or anger. In order to break the cycle of addiction, they need to learn healthy coping mechanisms. This is where dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) can help.

About Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). As such, it incorporates cognitive restructuring—a process by which participants are taught to identify negative reactive thoughts (sometimes called cognitive distortions) and modify them to encourage healthier behaviors. This is accomplished using techniques such as decatastrophizing, disputing, and guided questioning.

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With so much of American culture centered around alcohol consumption, it’s not always easy to tell the difference between low-risk drinking and the signs of a more serious problem. The concept of gray area drinking, popularized by Jolene Park in a 2017 TED talk, may help you determine if your alcohol consumption deserves a closer look.

Defining Gray Area Drinking

The CDC defines moderate drinking as two drinks or less per day for men or one drink or less per day for women. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks on an occasion for men or four or more drinks on an occasion for women—which is approximately the amount of alcohol required to bring an average-sized person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%.

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Stress Management in Recovery

No matter what, everyone deals with stress. Even people who’ve never had to deal with the specific challenges that come with a substance use disorder will eventually find themselves facing relationship problems, career difficulties, financial worries, or health concerns.

While stressful situations are an unavoidable part of life, you have the power to control how you respond. Instead of giving up, avoiding dealing with the problem, or turning to addictive substances for comfort, you can choose to face your stress in a healthy way as you continue to move forward in your recovery journey.

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Addiction doesn’t discriminate by age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. People from all different walks of life can struggle with alcohol use disorders.

High-Functioning Alcoholics

People who are high-functioning alcoholics, sometimes referred to simply as a functional alcoholic, is someone who abuses alcohol but still manages to project an outside image of normalcy. They may have successful careers, maintain busy social lives, and be active in the community.

Because high-functioning alcoholics can still hide their internal struggles from the casual observer, people who are high-functioning alcoholics are often deeply in denial about the extent of their problem. Here, we take a look at some of the things that they may say to avoid confronting the truth.

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Insomnia & Alcohol

Millions of adults across the United States find it difficult to sleep at night—and many mistakenly believe that drinking alcohol before bed will help them get the rest their body needs. Unfortunately, while alcohol is a sedative that is linked with feelings of general relaxation, drinking in the evening is most likely to lead to increased sleep difficulties.

Understanding How Alcohol Consumption Affects Sleep

Every individual reacts differently to alcohol depending on factors such as age, gender, body weight, and whether they are taking any prescription medications. However, alcohol can potentially affect a person’s sleep in the following ways:

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Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Addiction

The long-term effects of an alcohol use disorder are undeniable. This addiction can affect every aspect of a person’s life, including:

• Decreased mental health and worsening symptoms of pre-existing disorders such as depression
• Increased risk of cancer, diabetes, heart problems, liver problems, and fertility issues
• Cognitive impairment
• Legal problems due to arrests for alcohol-related behaviors such as drunk driving
• Financial problems due to the money spent buying alcohol
• Job loss due to poor performance or drinking on the job
• Problems maintaining relationships with friends and family

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Drug Overdose Deaths on the Rise

Recently released figures show that the number of South Carolina residents dying from drug overdoses continues to increase. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reports that final figures from death certificates show 1,734 people died from drug overdoses in South Carolina in 2020. This represents a 53% increase from the 1,131 deaths that were reported in 2019. The sharpest increase was in working-age adults from 35 to 55.

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When Your Adult Child Has a Drinking Problem

When your son or daughter was a newborn, you may have imagined that things would get easier over time. Now that they’re an adult, you realize that a parent’s work is never done.

When your adult child has a drinking problem, it’s normal to feel helpless, angry, and worried about what the future may hold. You can’t swoop in to “save the day” like you did when they were a toddler with a skinned knee, but that doesn’t mean that your actions don’t matter. If you respond in a loving way while continuing to stress the need for effective treatment, you can help guide your child towards more positive choices.

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