Beating an Addiction to Alcohol

What is in alcohol that causes it to be so addictive? What exactly is addiction and how can addicts break free from it? What problems do alcohol addictions cause? Understand alcohol and addiction and you’ve made an important step toward recovery for yourself or for a loved one. Break free from addiction by contacting us at Vista Bay. Our alcohol addiction treatment experts see an astonishing 76% of our graduates put addiction behind them and move on to lead healthy lives.

Alcohol and Addiction

Alcohol is effectively a “toxin” unnatural to your body. Negative physical side effects of drinking alcohol regularly—liver failure, kidney failure, malnutrition, increased risk of cancer and nerve system damage, to name a few—prove how toxic excessive amounts of alcohol can be. Nevertheless, pain and the potential for disease do not stop the alcoholic from drinking. Why? Alcohol releases dopamine and endorphins.

Dopamine is a “feel good” chemical produced by the body that makes a user happier or relaxed. The more an alcoholic battles with their addiction, the harder it is for them to get that dopamine feel to last. Rather than feeling happy and relaxed when they drink from time to time, they simply feel sick and unhappy when they don’t have that kick of dopamine from alcohol.

Endorphins are the body’s “pain killing” hormone. Alcohol causes more endorphins to be released in the brain, covering up pain and discomfort temporarily. Once the alcoholic starts missing the “numb” feeling, they will continue trying to find it until they make the choice to get sober.

Addictions and Alcohol Addictions

People can be addicted to many things from alcohol to drugs to sweet foods or to thrill-seeking dangerous adventures. Why? The chemical “high” they feel from dopamine, endorphins and other “feel good” chemicals released by the body during these activities. They become so chemically addicted to the substance of their choice that their bodies cease to function normally and feel worse without it. To truly get over an addiction, an addict needs to flush all of the chemicals out of their system and return the body to its natural state. Then the high will no longer be the body’s norm.

Severe alcoholics become physically ill when they don’t drink; the body craves more alcohol and it can be tempting for an alcoholic to give in to what their body wants. To get through the physical symptoms of withdrawal successfully, an alcoholic needs full-time, non-medicated alcohol addiction under professional supervision, such as that offered by Vista Bay.

The Problems Caused by Alcohol Addictions

Alcoholism causes relationships to fracture and people to lose jobs; it breaks families, introduces negative or even violent behavior and may cause suicidal thoughts. Also, alcohol addiction is often behind drunken driving automobile crashes. In short, addiction to alcohol may “feel good” to the alcoholic, but the risk for loss of love, loss of health and even loss of life is high; yet, so many addicts think that their addiction is only harmful to themselves.

Vista Bay’s non-drug replacement, residential alcohol addiction treatment center is the ideal environment for alcoholics to free themselves from alcohol. You or a loved one can soon be on the path to recovery. Fill out our contact form and call us at 800-556-8885 today!