Beating Addiction
Alcohol
Alcohol is widely used and abused in Australia. The 2001 National Drug Strategy Survey reported that 90% of Australians over the age of 14 had tried alcohol at some time in their lives and 80% had consumed alcohol in the 12-month period preceding the survey.12
Counting the cost of alcohol use and abuse
The social cost of alcohol use in Australia in 1998–9 was estimated at $7.5 billion.13
This includes:
- $225 million — health and medical costs
- $1.8 billion — road accidents
- $1.9 billion — lost productivity in the workplace
- $1.2 billion — alcohol related crime
Approximately 62% of these costs were estimated to be potentially preventable and amenable to public policy initiatives. The challenge is to put effective policies and strategies in place.
It is estimated that the NSW Government spends almost $1 billion annually on drug and alcohol services and dealing with associated problems in the community.
The harm caused by alcohol includes:
- 3,300 deaths per year in Australia are attributed to alcohol use.
- 72,000 hospital admissions per year in Australia are estimated to be the result of high risk drinking.
- One third of all driver and pedestrian related deaths are alcohol related.
- An alarming 20–50% of suicides, 16% of child abuse cases, 44% of fire injuries, 34% of falls and drowning are associated with alcohol consumption.14
- Alcohol and drugs contribute towards up to 11% of workplace injuries.
- Up to 70% of violent crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol. In NSW, alcohol was prevalent in 42% of homicides.
- Between 32% and 50% of prisoners are classified as alcohol dependent or heavy users.
- 68% of indigenous Australians who drink do so at harmful levels compared to 10% of drinkers in the general population.
- Up to 80% of domestic violence incidents are alcohol related.15
Drinking patterns among young people
Alcohol is a significant factor in adolescent culture. The 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey reported that more than 60% of young adults and 45% of teenagers have at least one drinking session per year that is high risk.
Culture plays an important role in shaping binge drinking patterns, attitudes towards it and their role within the social context.
The term binge drinking may not be recognised in other languages, but the phenomenon certainly is, and while it may be culturally acceptable, it represents a drinking pattern with potential for social and physical harm.
- Binge drinking is regarded as a male drinking pattern in some cultures, acceptable for men but not for women.
- Some cultures include binge-drinking episodes among other rites of passage into adulthood (e.g. Pacific Islanders, certain university cultures in US, Japan and elsewhere).
- Binge drinking may be associated with certain celebrations in some cultures, but otherwise absent from drinking occasions.
- Binge drinking may represent a “time out” from conventional behaviour, often in association with celebrations and holidays.16
Additional reasons why people binge drink include:
Experimental use: when a person tries alcohol once or twice out of curiosity. Novice users run the risk of a lack of tolerance to alcohol, and of not knowing how they will react, as well as the risks that may be associated with the effects of alcohol.
Recreational use: where a person chooses to use alcohol for enjoyment, particularly to enhance a mood or social occasion.
Situational use: where alcohol is used to cope with the demands of particular situations, like grief.
Dependent use: where a person becomes dependent on alcohol after prolonged or heavy use over time. They feel a need to take alcohol consistently in order to feel normal, or to avoid uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Dependence can be psychological, physical, or both.17
Key findings of the 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey were:
- Binge drinking is common in both young males and females with 35% of teenage males drinking between 11 and 30 drinks in one day in the last month and 22% of teenage females drinking between 9 and 30 drinks.
- 65% of young people have had their first drink by the age of 14, 14% by the age of 11.
- Males aged 18–24 comprises the group with the highest risk for problems related to alcohol.18
A report, prepared by the National Drug Research Institute and the Centre for Adolescent Health, published for Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing 2004, states that:
- one in 10 teenagers drink to harmful levels in Australia.
- 72% of males aged 14–17 drink alcohol.
- 29% engage in high-risk behaviour at least once a month after binge drinking.
- 74% of females aged 14–17 drink alcohol and;
- 33% participate in risky behaviour, including drink driving.19
Alcohol consumption among Aboriginal people
Patterns of alcohol consumption and their important social and health problems continue to be a substantial issue for Australia’s Aboriginal communities and service providers who work beside them. It is an issue which is being wrestled with both at the State and Commonwealth level and is the legacy of decades of paternalism, neglect and marginalisation.
For example in 2002:
- One-sixth (15%) of indigenous people aged 15 years or over reported risky/high risk alcohol consumption in the last 12 months.
- The rate was higher for indigenous males than females (17% compared with 13%) and peaked for males aged 45–54 years (22%) and for females aged 35–44 years (19%)
- The level of risky/high risk alcohol consumption in the last 12 months was similar for Aboriginal people in non-remote and remote areas.
- People with a non-school qualification reported risky/high risk alcohol consumption at a lower rate (14%) than did people whose highest educational attainment was Year 9 or below (18%).20
Problems with alcohol lead to a number of health related issues for Aboriginal people.
For example, Aboriginal Australians are over three times as likely as the non-indigenous population to report some form of diabetes.
About one-tenth of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders reported a long term health condition associated with the circulatory system, such as heart disease, hypertension or other conditions affecting the veins or arteries.21
For more information on this area, see National Action Plan on Illicit Drugs 2001–2003.22
Phil’s story
Alcohol would make him “forget and not feel”
Before arriving at Wesley Rehabilitation Services (WRS), Phil had little or no self-esteem, was despondent and verging on suicide. For 24 years he had taken refuge in alcohol. For five of those years he was a daily drinker. The breakdown of his marriage sent him over the edge.
Alcohol would make him “forget and not feel.”
During those dark and dangerous years, Phil would drink for several days leaving him physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. He would pass out and wake up in the casualty unit of a Sydney hospital not knowing what life would bring. He later described it as his “slow death”.
The turning point came just six months ago. “I prayed ‘get me the strength to get me through this or take me now’. I couldn’t continue anymore. Suicide was a major thing on my mind.”
“From the moment I came into Wesley it felt right. I felt welcomed. Your self esteem is not totally stripped away. It’s the best program I’ve been in…it works. It’s an all encompassing program. You are treated like a human being and not an inmate.”
Phil has a level of independence which he believes is vital to his growth process and recovery. A bed-sit, the ability to manage his finances and find support if needed, have all contributed to Phil’s growth. And like other clients, Phil can receive some financial support for expenses accrued during court cases and help with job placements.
“There have been some real changes over the past six months,” he said. “I used to fear dying yet I was killing myself, now I don’t fear death and I’m enjoying life.”
Phil believes the spiritual aspect of the WRS program has been integral to his recovery – the missing piece of other programs which he tried but failed. The social supports shared with other clients, especially the men that share Phil’s unit block, contribute positively.
“I’ve tried other programs but none of them had a spiritual side,” he said. “And that’s definitely a component I need. I needed the higher power, the higher power that I had experienced in my life that I had left alone and avoided when I was in addiction. I feel I’m not doing this on my own. I believe I was guided to Wesley in the first place. It’s saved my life.”
Phil has been in the program for six months and he has been sober for that period — the first time since he was 16 years old.
Phil is thankful for the opportunity to recover with the help of the committed Christian staff and the social environment of WRS.
“I could never repay the debt but I would like to do some volunteer work with Wesley,” he said.
Lesley’s story
“I always thought my life was going to be dominated by alcohol and drugs.”
Lesley’s life was on a downhill run.
She had been living with a man who was taking drugs and had been drawn into a relationship with someone who was “not good for her.”
“We were living in two different worlds,” she said. “There was a lack of communication and purpose in our relationship. There was alcohol and drugs but that’s all we seemed to share.”
She realised she had a dependency on alcohol and marijuana and admitted that she didn’t know how to cope when confronted with life’s problems.
Her alcohol dependence had begun during her teenage years.
“I really didn’t know how to handle situations or how to cope with them so that’s when it came to the point of having to make a decision,” she said. “I always thought my life was going to be dominated by alcohol and drugs.
“Alcohol gave great comfort to me and took away my emotional pain temporarily.”
In 2005 she decided to enter Grace Manor, which is part of Wesley Rehabilitation Services (WRS). The program has a block of four, three-bedroom units and accommodation for up to 12 homeless women who are dealing with dependency problems.
“This is a very therapeutic setting where people live with people,” she said. “We each have problems and they are all very similar although we are all individuals — it gives us a unity and understanding — a feeling of being accepted.”
Lesley’s self esteem has improved and her life has turned around; she is working as a nursing assistant, is studying to become an alcohol and drug counsellor and is providing volunteer support at WRS.
“Grace Manor has allowed me to live in a community where I feel accepted and go outside that community and feel accepted too,” she said.
“Regardless of criticism I am able to put into place healthy boundaries around me and not take on board what I hear around me. I can now put boundaries into place and believe it’s their stuff and not mine.
“It’s given me more love and concern.”
Acquiring and deepening her faith in Christ has been the cornerstone of her recovery and growth in self esteem.
“It’s only coming into recovery that I’ve come into relationship with Him,” she said. “My faith in Christ has taught me that God loves each of us. He loves the person and dislikes the sin. He took the sin of the world upon his shoulders — it’s the greatest thing that could ever happen. Life throws things at me and I don’t have to use drink or drugs as a coping mechanism.”
