Sizwe Medical Fund_Magazine_14122016.indd

future, starts to gnaw in the gut. The temptation is to drown the fear and angst in increasingly copious libations. Do not fall into this trap, because trap it is. Unfortunately, alcohol, like drugs, can easily become addictive. It might well soothe away the anguishing thoughts and worries for a while, but it does not solve them. When you sober up, they will still be there. What’s more, your body will gradually build up immunity to both alcohol and drugs, so that you will need increasing quantities of them to achieve the same effect. The

result is that you are exacerbating your existing problems, because now you are spending more and more money to feed the habit, your health is deteriorating and your behaviour and work performance are changing for the worse. If you know that you are prone to over-indulgence, then don’t even start the vicious cycle. Stick to non- alcoholic drinks and fruit juices. To help you stay the course, write up a list of what happens or could happen when you drink to excess and remind yourself of the negative consequences: For instance,

drunkenness, loss of memory, loss of self-control, embarrassment, vomiting, hangover, nausea, headache, loss of inhibitions, risk of sexual abuse, accidents, injury – and so on. The Western Cape Government has issued a statement that 70% of trauma victims during this period are alcohol-related. Similar statistics apply in the rest of Africa, with Gauteng at the top of the list. Make sure that this Christmas, neither you nor your loved ones will be part of that statistic.

To make sure you don’t over-indulge and suffer from the usual repercussions: intoxication with all the dangers that can cause - hangover, nausea, even alcohol poisoning and severe damage to one’s health - we offer the following tips:

Don’t drink on an empty stomach

Adopt a buddy system: agree to keep an eye on each other to help in controlling your alcohol intake

Drink slowly while snacking or having meals

Decide beforehand what your limit will be: eg two beers, glasses of wine or cocktails and don’t exceed that no matter how you are pressurised

Drink water in between alcoholic beverages

Do not leave your drink unattended – unscrupulous people can too easily “spike” it

Don’t mix your drinks

51

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs