T here’s no end to ‘humorous’ wine and mommy memes out there. But there’s also no end to the sad and depressed and shit scared mothers out there who fall prey to the wine o’clock culture and now find themselves caught in a terrible cycle of addiction and shame, not through their own fault, as the alcohol industry would have us believe, but quite simply because they became addicted to an addictive substance. There are no TV advertisements showing that reality! Just last week I read an Instagram post from Michelle Heaton, a well-known singer and out loud and proud woman in recovery. She spoke of how her daughter (who’s 10 years old) had asked her friend's parents not to bring prosecco to her playdates, but to bring coffee instead . When did it happen that alcohol has ANY place at a child’s playdate? But apparently, it’s very often the norm. As a self-confessed lover of reality TV ( Real Housewives of anywhere, Below Deck anywhere) and as a proud woman in recovery I am never disappointed that every argument or big drama moment, all cringe-worthy behaviour and shameful deeds, are all a result of too much alcohol. Seriously, like 99.9% of the time! But we never question alcohol or its effect on our brain chemistry (it’s huge). We just keep judging the person, and never question the substance. That’s exactly the way the Big Alcohol industry would like it to remain. And there’s not a government in the world that will take them on, as the tax revenue is too significant, and economic strength will tend to prevail over global health protection . Even those of us in sobriety, who have every reason in the world, to speak out about the true nature of the beast that is alcohol, are often reluctant to do it outside of the sober spaces . We don’t want to be the buzz killers or sober bores, so we often keep our knowledge to ourselves and just watch from the sidelines. Modern Recovery is thankfully taking the shame and blame away from the individual and laying it where it belongs, with the legalized drug that is alcohol and this thinking is the birth of a shift. As an empowered and proud Hola Sober Revolutionary I am arming myself with all the scientific facts and knowledge that thankfully is now coming in abundance and if the opportunity presents itself then it’s incumbent on me and all of us sober warriors to speak up and tell the truth about Alcohol.
However, while I am anti-alcohol, I’m also pro- choice . I don’t believe banning a product is ever going to be a solution. I do believe that the multi- billion dollar powerful alcohol industry should be legally bound to tell the honest truth loudly and clearly about what exactly they are selling and promoting at every turn. Here’s is what they don’t tell us, but the World Health Organisation will: #1 The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions. Worldwide, 3 million deaths EVERY YEAR result from the harmful use of alcohol. This represents 5.3% of all deaths. #2 Overall 5.1% of the global burden of disease and injury is attributed to alcohol. #3 Beyond health consequences, the harmful use of alcohol brings SIGNIFICANT social and economic losses to individuals and society at large. #4 Alcohol consumption causes death and disability relatively early in life. In people aged 20-39 years, approximately 13.5% of total deaths are attributed to alcohol. #5 There is a casual relationship between harmful use of alcohol and a range of mental and behavioural disorders, other noncommunicable conditions, and injuries. They’re just the overall facts and figures. They say nothing of the misery that’s been wrought on families for generations. If you watch any reality tv show like 999 What’s Your Emergency , you’ll witness the vast majority of police callouts are due to public intoxication or domestic abuse whereby the abuser is very often under the influence of alcohol. Just last night we watched as a mother and two men were arrested on a street. All three were drunk. There was a 5-month old baby in a buggy. It was 11 p.m. at night. Shocking right? Mentally I was thinking about all the mothers who were drunk at that exact time but hidden behind closed doors. I wasn’t judging them, after all I used to be one. The alcohol industry has deliberately targeted women, and mothers, to increase their market and profits. And what a fine job they’ve made of it.
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