Published: Apr. 10, 2024 at 2:58 PM PST
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Porch Light Health/Front Range Clinic talks alcohol use disorder with 11 News during Alcohol Awareness Month.
I want to thank you for joining us this afternoon here at the 11 News Alert Desk. I’m Lauren Watson, your digital anchor here at KKTV 11 News. And I’m here today with Steve Carlton. Now, he’s the Chief Clinical Officer of Porch Light Health and Front Range Clinic. And Steve, April is alcohol awareness month. Now, we tend to talk a lot about different substance use disorders during our chats every month. We don’t talk too much about people drinking too much. And how many people struggle with alcohol alcohol use disorder?
Yeah, we don’t talk about alcohol enough, probably. To answer your question, alcohol use disorder is, I mean, it’s the most common substance use disorder that people experience. Roughly, a little bit over 10 % of the American population meets the criteria for a substance use disorder, and we can get a little bit more into what that means. But we’re talking up to 25 million people in our country struggle with this.
Goodness, and what are some signs for people that they, or a loved one, might be drinking too much?
Sure. So, when you’re thinking about your relationship to alcohol, there’s a few things that people need to consider. I think first and foremost, the most important thing to think about is, are people experiencing a loss of control over how much and how often they consume alcohol? When you lose control, meaning you go out with your friends, and you plan to have two or three drinks, and you end up having 10, right? And you wake up the next day feeling guilt, feeling remorse, regret, you have a hangover.
That’s an early sign that maybe you’re headed towards trouble. Some other indicators quickly are social and occupational consequences. So you’re having trouble in your relationships, you’re having trouble at work as a direct result of substance or alcohol. You’re taking risks, people driving intoxicated, doing things they wouldn’t normally do that might pose risk to themselves or other people. And then lastly, it’s the physiological dependence, right? So the tolerance effect. You need more alcohol to get the same effect, or when you take away alcohol, you experience withdrawal symptoms. You get ill.
So when it comes to alcohol use and alcohol consumption, how can you tell how much is too much?
So what we know is, there’s a lot of binge drinking out there, right? And binge drinking is defined as five drinks, four for women, and within a two-hour period, right? So that is considered too much. That is causing pretty significant harm to your body, if you’re drinking copious amounts in short amounts of time. In general, we know that impacts on health. There’s no safe amount of alcohol that people can drink.
There used to be this idea, this concept that a glass of wine at dinner was good for cardiac health and other things, and we know that that’s not true. That’s actually not the case. It’s similar to eating chocolate cake, right? If you consume even one drink, there’s not a benefit that you get from that. Can people drink alcohol responsibly? Absolutely. But anything more than three in a day, you’re risking damage to health and well-being.
Now, if someone you know, or you have an issue with alcohol, should you try going cold turkey before anything else?
So this is a great question, and something that I hope families take away from this. If you have a loved one who is severely dependent on alcohol, meaning when they stop drinking, they get the shakes, they start sweating, they start getting cognitively impaired, not thinking as clearly, not acting themselves.
Stopping drinking for those individuals can be lethal, right? For the vast majority of people drinking out there, quitting drinking isn’t going to involve any disastrous impacts. But for those out there that are drinking 750 milliliters, or a fifth of liquor a day, like these types of people, if you immediately rip away alcohol, that could have a lethal impact. People can die, but you can have seizures, and those might not stop, and it’s a very dangerous situation.
And keeping that in mind, what should be, or what is the first step towards getting help?
Sure, so the first step in getting help is looking for what options do you have, right? Where do you need to turn to, and what are the options available to you based on your insurance, where you live, all of these types of things. At Porch Light Health Front Range Clinic, we offer ambulatory withdrawal management services, for people who do not need to be medically hospitalized.
So we’re talking about people that have minor withdrawal symptoms, when they stop using, we can help with that. So that is always a good option. But the first step in tackling a substance use disorder is slowing down and eventually quitting that substance, and getting help from a professional to do that safely, and do that in a way where the change is going to be sustained.
Now, detox is a part of this process, of course, and what does that look like? I know it probably can look different for different people, but generally, what does that process look like?
Detox looks different for different people. It really depends on the substance. When we’re talking about alcohol, specifically, it involves taking into account of how much are people consuming, right? That’s the first question. If it’s If it’s more than eight drinks a day, people really need to consider professional help in detoxing off of alcohol. If it’s less than that, if you’re looking to cut back on your drinking, a good first step in detoxing is coming up with a taper plan for yourself, right? Having a very practical idea and concept of how you can taper off alcohol. So I’m drinking a six-pack a day.
What does it look like for a few days just drinking four? What does it look like next to then drop it down to two, and then eventually zero, right? Putting yourself on a taper plan. Having partners, having family members, or friends support you in that and help you with that is also a really good idea. And just in general, again, having somebody that’s gone through it, having a therapist, a doctor, some type of nurse, some type of professional, don’t do it alone.
Now, from the other side of things, if you noticed a loved one is having an issue with alcohol, and this is a conversation that one of our viewers would have to have with a loved one, what’s some advice for that?
The best advice I can give somebody, if you’re worried about a loved one that’s struggling with alcohol use disorder, what you need to remember is that you might only get one chance to have a meaningful conversation with that person. And so if you only have one chance to address those concerns, to say, I’m worried about you, and here’s why, pick your spot. Don’t do that after a significant event, where there’s high conflict and arguments going on, or if the person is intoxicated. Try to find some time that is more calm, more peaceful, where you can approach that conversation on even ground. And the other big mistake people make, is they tend to, over and over again, restate their concerns. It almost gets to this, where you feel like you’re nagging them, and they feel like you’re a nag as well. Well, and you don’t want to get to that place. So, if you’re going to have these conversations, pick your spots, right? That’s going to ultimately be more meaningful than not. And the last thing I’ll say on that, is the opposite of addiction, it is connection, right? That’s something that within the field is spoken a lot, right?
And you’re speaking of not doing it alone. Once someone goes out and seeks treatment, what options for treatment are there?
Sure. Yeah, so detox is at the top of the list, right? If you want to be successful in reducing or stopping substance use, then figuring out what type of detox you need. That might involve a stay at a hospital and visiting an emergency room. As you taper off, it might involve coming to a place like Porch Light, and having a medical provider help manage those symptoms. If you do not have detox symptoms, you have lots of options. I think in general, people should think, what is going to be the most effective treatment, That’s going to be the least restrictive to my life. Lots of people with substance use disorders out there have families, they have jobs. They have other responsibilities that they can’t pick up and go to a residential program for 30 days. Residential treatment is a good option if people have failed to make progress on their substance use disorder goals in some type of other outpatient setting. I think for most people, they should try outpatient first. They should try to do that work in their home, in their communities, in their day to day life, and see if they can make progress.
If that’s not the case, then I think is when you start considering residential treatment options. Other really good resources for alcohol use disorder, AA is everywhere, and AA is still a very viable solution for many people. And if AA isn’t a fit, there are other secular groups out there that can help LifeRing being one that can help put you around people that have been in those shoes, who have conquered their alcohol use disorder, and gone on to get better.
So for people who think Porc hLight, you guys at Porch Light Health, might be the best option for them moving forward in treatment like this, where can they find you?
A couple of ways. So our hotline for people in Colorado and New Mexico, it’s 866 Matstat, M-A-T-S-T-A-T, or you can find us online at porchlighthealth.com. Either of those options, we have 60 points of care in Colorado. So chances are we have something very close to you where you can access care and meet with providers, medical and therapist, and get some help and support.
Awesome. Well, Steve, those are all of the questions that I prepared for you today. Anything else you wanted to touch on before we wrap up this afternoon?
No, I think that’s it. I hope this is helpful to people out there. I think, again, there are plenty of people out there that consume alcohol safely in moderation, and we don’t need to demonize the substance. But if you are having a problem, and you or a family member, and you’re identifying a need for support, it’s really important to reach out for help, and find people that can help with that problem.
