ONE DAY AT A TIME

For people with alcoholism, every day without drinking is an important step forward in helping their brain to beat the addiction.

The idea of breaking an addiction forever can be an overwhelming idea for some people so the ‘one day at a time’ philosophy is a common mantra for many 12-step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. While the philosophy is sometimes criticised for being too simplistic, a new brain imaging study by Yale University shows why the approach works. Imaging scans of those diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) taken one day to two weeks after their last drink, reveal associated disruptions of activity between the brain regions linked to decision making. The more recent the last drink, the more severe the disruption, and the more likely the alcoholics will resume heavy drinking, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

However, the researchers also found that the severity of disruption between these brain regions diminishes gradually, the longer AUD subjects abstain from alcohol. “For people with AUD, the brain takes a long time to normalise, and each day is going to be a struggle,” says Rajita Sin-ha, the Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center and of Neuroscience, and senior author of the study. “For these people, it really is ‘one day at a time’. When people are struggling, it is not enough for them to say, ‘Okay, I didn’t drink today so I’m good now’.” Sinha says. “It doesn’t work that way.”

ALCOHOL AND ISOLATION

According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation there are six signs that isolation may be impacting your drinking, thus increasing your risk of dependence on alcohol:

Drinking more, or more often.

The new NHMRC guidelines say healthy adults should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than four standard drinks in any one day.

Interfering with your day-to-day. Consider if drinking alcohol starts to feel more important than other priorities in your life.

Stress or unhappiness. One reason people may be reaching for a glass of alcohol is stress or unhappiness. However, alcohol can contribute to making these feelings worse. Bedtime blues. Although drinking initially creates a feeling of relaxation, it can lead to greater anxiety and disrupted sleep. This, in turn, lowers your ability to cope with stress. Relationship troubles. If people close to you are starting to comment on how much you’re drinking or expressing concern, take notice before it takes a toll on your relationship or causes harm.

Alcohol tolerance. If you’re finding that you need to drink more each time to get the same feeling, it’s a sign that you have increased your tolerance to alcohol – an early sign of dependence.