Understanding the Health Risks of Alcohol and How to Get Help

Alcohol is one of the most widely consumed substances in the world. It is often part of social gatherings, celebrations, and relaxation. But alcohol use, especially heavy or frequent use, can affect your health, relationships, work, finances, and overall well-being.

Understanding the risks is an important step toward making informed choices and knowing when to reach out for help. Lisa Barnes, LSW, with Riverside Healthcare Behavioral Health Outpatient Services Pathways, shares insight into alcohol use, warning signs, and treatment options.

Binge Drinking vs. Social Drinking

Drinking alcohol regularly can raise concerns, but determining how much is too much is not always simple. Tolerance can vary from person to person. However, certain drinking patterns, such as binge drinking, are known to carry higher risks.

Binge drinking typically means drinking enough alcohol in a short time to raise blood alcohol concentration to dangerous levels. For many adults, this may happen after four or more drinks for women or five or more drinks for men in about two hours.

Social drinking is usually more controlled. It often happens at events or gatherings, and drinking is a choice rather than a compulsion. Binge drinking, on the other hand, involves drinking multiple drinks quickly, which can lead to blackouts, vomiting, passing out, poor decision-making, injury, or other serious outcomes.

“Typically, social drinking is more when a person is out, they’re at an event, and they wouldn’t necessarily consider drinking if they weren’t there. It is more controlled. It is a choice. It’s usually less excessive.”

Lisa Barnes, LSW

How Alcohol Can Affect Your Health and Daily Life

Alcohol can affect many parts of the body. Long-term heavy drinking can increase the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, liver disease, pancreatic problems, and certain mental health concerns.

Alcohol use disorder can also affect more than physical health. Excessive alcohol use may strain family relationships, make it harder to maintain employment, create financial stress, lead to legal issues, and worsen symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions.

• Physical health: Alcohol use can affect the heart, liver, pancreas, brain, and other parts of the body.
• Mental health: Alcohol can contribute to or worsen depression, anxiety, and other symptoms.
• Relationships: Alcohol misuse can create stress within families, friendships, and support systems.
• Work and finances: Alcohol use may affect job performance, attendance, decision-making, and financial stability.
• Safety: Drinking too much can increase the risk of injuries, accidents, and other dangerous situations.

“Keep in mind that alcohol use disorder can have effects that extend beyond your physical health. Excessive use could impact your family dynamics, your ability to maintain those relationships, your ability to sustain employment.”

Lisa Barnes, LSW

When to Reach Out for Help

If you are concerned about your alcohol use or someone else’s drinking, reaching out for support is an important first step. Many people struggle to stop drinking on their own, especially when alcohol use is connected to stress, trauma, mental health symptoms, or other underlying concerns.

Treatment can help people better understand their behaviors, build healthier coping skills, reduce cravings, and create a stronger support system.

Support may include:

• Group therapy
• Individual counseling
• Medication-assisted treatment to help reduce cravings
• Support groups and sober support networks
• Family education and support
• Treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use concerns

“Really, the first step is acknowledging there’s a problem, accepting that you need support, and the willingness to take those first steps to make it happen.”

Lisa Barnes, LSW

Behavioral Health Services at Riverside Healthcare

Riverside Healthcare offers inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults.

Inpatient Behavioral Health Services

Riverside’s inpatient behavioral health services focus on stabilization and support. Care may include psychiatric support, medication management, group education, and discharge planning to help patients safely transition to the next step in care.

Pathways Outpatient Services

Pathways, located at 400 South Kennedy Drive, Suite 200 in Bradley, offers outpatient group therapy through partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs. These programs support people experiencing concerns such as depression, anxiety, grief, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and dual diagnosis.

Dual diagnosis means a person is experiencing both a mental health concern and a substance use concern. Treating both together can help support long-term recovery.

Pathways programs include services for:

• Children ages 8 to 11
• Adolescents ages 12 to 17
• Adults
• People experiencing both mental health and substance use concerns

How to Get Started

No referral is required to schedule an intake. Referrals are also accepted from physicians, psychiatrists, schools, family members, and others.

If you or someone you care about needs support, call Riverside Healthcare Pathways at 779-701-2000.

To learn more, visit Riverside Behavioral Health Services.