April is Alcohol Awareness Month

The CDC estimates that in an average year, nearly 90,000 Americans die from alcohol abuse, and that excessive drinking costs the U.S. economy about $220 billion a year in lost productivity, health care costs and criminal justice services. Alcohol abuse can be difficult to recognize because alcohol is such an integral and accepted part of many social occasions. For many though, alcohol use is no longer pleasurable or social; it can become something that defines and limits daily existence and destroys family, social and workplace relationships.

Staten Island University Hospital has a comprehensive substance use disorder program that addresses all types of addiction. The hospital offers inpatient detoxification and rehabilitation, as well as outpatient treatment for chemical dependency. All patients are admitted for the course of treatment deemed necessary by an individualized assessment and evidenced based level of care determination. For patients without insurance, a sliding scale for treatment makes treatment accessible. According to Joanne Pietro, associate executive director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at SIUH, education and family support are crucial to successful treatment. “If you have someone using alcohol or drugs, you can come to our family program to learn about addiction and learn how to cope,” she says. “We’re here to help families understand substance use disorders and how to support someone who is really suffering. It’s about being firm, but not giving ultimatums. You can’t force people to go to treatment when they’re not ready,” she says.

Pietro shared some of the questions that the staff at SIUH asks patients who are trying to determine whether or not they need treatment for alcohol abuse:

Have there been times when you ended up drinking more or longer than you intended to?

Have you wanted to cut down or stop drinking and tried but couldn’t?

Have you spent a lot of time drinking, being sick from drinking or getting over the after effects of drinking?

Have you experienced cravings, a strong need or urge to drink?

Has drinking interfered with taking care of your home or family or caused problems at your job or school?

Have you cut back on activities that were important or of interest to you just to drink?

Have you gotten into situation while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt, like driving, operating machinery or engaging in unsafe sex?

Have you had to drink more than you once did to get the same effect?

Have you experience the effects of alcohol withdrawal, like trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, nausea or sweating?

Pietro emphasized that substance use disorder is a medical condition and should not be subject to embarrassment or stigma. “We look at it like cardiac disease or diabetes — it is a disease and deserves the same respect,” she says. To get in touch with SIUH’s Substance Use Disorder Program, call (718) 226-2753.