You already know about liver damage and drunk driving accidents as the risks of alcohol abuse. However, we have some risks you may not have heard about, and they’re alarming. If you find you need a men’s rehab center, we want to help. Contact Red Oak Recovery^® today.

1. The Happiness Assassin

You may feel temporarily happy and relaxed when you drink. But there’s a flip side to that experience. Alcohol, and many drugs, increase your body’s natural supply of endorphins.

Your body typically produces endorphins to relax and make you feel happy. For example, if you laugh at a funny joke, the body releases endorphins. As a result, you feel good.

But endorphins are not intended to stay in the body long-term. Because if they do, you become desensitized to them. You need more to feel okay.

One of the risks of alcohol abuse is that it causes an overproduction that makes you feel ‘blah” or “blue” when you can’t get a drink.

2. The Incredible Shrinking Brain

According to a study that experts presented at the American Academy of Neurology, drinking heavy amounts of alcohol over a long period of time may decrease brain volume. Science disproved the myth that you only use 10% of your brain long ago. In reality, you use and need all of it. According to the study, those who have more than 14 drinks a week may have as much as 1.6% of their brain’s volume reduced.

3. Messing with Your Mind

Alcohol specifically impacts the frontal lobes of the brain. They help regulate your emotions, memory, and decision-making. So it’s no wonder that people who abuse alcohol experience things like:

• Mood swings
• Poor judgment
• Memory problems
• Mental health disorders

This brain damage can range from minor to severe. But it only gets worse the longer you abuse alcohol. Over time the alcohol abuse scrambles your mind so you can’t think or act clearly, even when you’re sober.

4. Welcome to the Back Seat of Your Own Car

You like to be in control of your own life. You don’t like it when others tell you what to do. However, one of the risks of abusing alcohol is that the alcohol starts calling the shots. You love your family. However, alcohol starts demanding that you spend more time with it instead.

You like your job. But the alcohol convinces you to get wasted the night before a big day. You get fired.

One of the significant risks is that alcohol slowly but inevitably starts to take over everything. You’re no longer in control. And even though you want to quit–you need to stop–you can’t.

5. No More Personal Freedom

When you’re not in control, things happen to you. For example, you might drive drunk and kills someone. You then go to prison. Or you may live through a horrible accident to find yourself bedridden for the rest of your life.

Either way, you’ve completely lost your freedom. But there is a much better way.

Avoiding the Risks of Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse is a dark path to follow. However, doing something about it early in life makes all the difference. Re-take control of your life.

Red Oak Recovery^®’s holistic and individualized treatment programs give you the tools you need to do just that. As you advance through our hybrid wilderness and clinical programs, you’ll experience a renewal in energy, purpose, and joy. Participate in healing activities like:

• Exercise therapy
• Family therapy
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Experiential therapy

Are you ready to avoid these risks of alcohol abuse and reclaim your life? Please contact Red Oak Recovery^® today at 866.457.7590 and learn about your treatment options.