The Affects of Alcohol on Relationships

Moderate alcohol use is typically harmless, but excessive drinking has multiple adverse effects. Many consequences go unnoticed because of the primary detriments, such as vehicular accidents and loss of life. However, alcohol abuse can also affect personal relationships.

What Is Moderate Alcohol Usage?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that women consume no more than one drink per day. The organization sets the threshold at two for men. 

Can Alcohol Damage a Relationship?

Excessive alcohol consumption can destroy trust in familial and romantic relationships and facilitate trauma. The devastation that people experience from exposure to alcohol abuse can last a lifetime. 

How Does Alcohol Hurt Relationships?

Alcohol alone doesn’t hurt relationships, but it can annihilate a relationship when someone misuses it or develops a habit. Firstly, not everyone handles regular alcohol consumption well. It’s a tricky substance that can cause a user to be overly friendly, talkative, promiscuous, irritable, or violent.

Different brands and types of alcohol can also affect a person differently. For example, vodka can make one person happy, but beer might cause a short fuse; wine might trigger depression. Alcohol’s versatility, coupled with overuse and dependence, can cause the people in an individual’s family to experience trauma. 

Bad habits can also cause couples and families to have financial problems. Advanced alcohol addiction is similar to drug addiction because the affected person engages in drink-seeking behaviors when the body begins to withdraw. The painful withdrawal symptoms may cause the individual to lie to other people, steal money, or physically harm a loved one to get the cash they need to buy another drink. Moreover, alcohol binges might cause someone to lose a job that helps support the family. 

Drinks also lower people’s inhibitions and fog their judgments, making it easier for someone with infidelity on their mind to gain the "courage" to act on it. Thus, a person in a drunken state might be unfaithful to their spouse and fail to use protection as well.   

What Does Alcohol Do to Relationships?

When used irresponsibly, alcohol can destroy the foundation of a relationship. The first thing that goes is trust. Spouses and family members stop believing that the affected person tells the truth about their behaviors. Wives and husbands are constantly fearful of subsequent affairs and violence. Parents and family members worry hopelessly about the drinker and whether they will end up in the emergency room or morgue. Furthermore, committed partners may suffer self-esteem loss because they feel like alcohol is more important in the affected person’s life than they are. 

Those are some ways alcohol can affect a relationship. Some families gather and perform interventions, and they remind the affected person of times when the alcohol usage hurt them. They do this to encourage the individual to get help. A small percentage of interventions are highly successful, but some don’t go well. Rehabilitation specialists can assist with intervention planning to ensure the family conducts it at the most effective time.

Categorised in: Substance Abuse Counseling

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