Christmas and Alcohol
Alcohol Related Brain Damage is a preventable dementia
ARBD causes brain cells to die and the whole brain to shrink
Tips to limit alcohol this Christmas and protect your brain
Alcohol Related Brain Damage is sometimes described as the only really preventable form of dementia. The people affected are much younger than people with other forms of dementia, usually being between 40 and 50 years old – even earlier in women. It is possible to make a partial recovery if the person stops drinking. But if the alcohol consumption continues, there may be a permanent problem of difficulty with the simplest daily activities. As someone gets older, it takes less alcohol to cause the injury to the brain that will leave permanent damage. Brain cells die, and the whole brain starts to shrink. The injury is not only from that chemical poisoning, but the person is much more likely to fall over or get in a fight and have a traumatic brain injury as a result.
Festive drinking
The festive season is a real problem for anyone who is trying to limit their consumption. Generous people unthinkingly give gifts of bottles of booze, and offer drinks and toasts, sometimes even pressing a reluctant person to have “just one”.
How can we get round these problems at Christmas? Here are some hints if you are trying to reduce drinking yourself.
Be the designated driver. Everyone will love you for volunteering and no one will press you to anything stronger than an orange juice. Love those vitamins!
Show up late to any party. If the other partygoers are already inebriated, they won’t notice that you are not drinking to keep up with them, and you can gather stories about them to embarrass them the next time you see them.
All the shops are full of “bargains” of Christmas cheer. Shop online to control your urges and protect your wallet.
Distract yourself during alcohol adverts on cable TV. Pots of tea might do it for you, or tasty treats. Or just do press-ups.
When someone is insisting you have a drink in a bar, ask for a very special (maybe expensive?) non-alcoholic cocktail. It disrupts their idea that you are being frugal not festive. Nothing makes them pause like a glass of juice and ice that costs about a tenner.
Dry January can start now
Dry January is not far away. You can start now by having less of it in the house, or at least not over-stocking your drinks cupboard. Tomorrow we’ll talk about the nightmare of Christmas when you have a parent with dementia whose drinking is out of control.
Here are some useful addresses.
https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
https://alcoholchange.org.uk
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk
https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk
If you would like more information, you can buy my book Dementia, the One Stop Guide or Care Homes: When, Why and How to Choose a Care Home. I am available for consultancy for families or organisations. And if you have any further queries or questions, or suggestions for something you’d like to see me write on, please contact me via the Contact Page
See my new course on Dementia the One Stop Guide on Policy Hub here
