ALLEN began abusing alcohol when he was 11 years old.* He and his friends played in the woods, imitating characters they saw in the movies. The characters they copied were fictional, but the liquor Allen and his friends drank was real.
Tony was 40 when he gradually increased his drinks from one or two each evening to five or six. Eventually, he lost count of how many drinks he had throughout the day.
Allen sought help for his alcohol problem. Tony rejected the assistance offered by caring family and friends. Allen is alive today to tell his story; Tony died some years ago in a motor vehicle accident after drinking too much liquor.
Even when someone overdrinks alone, the effects of his excesses inevitably spill over into other people’s lives, often with tragic consequences.* Alcohol misuse is frequently a factor in verbal and physical abuse, in assaults and murder, in car accidents and work-related injuries, as well as in a host of health problems. Alcohol abuse costs society billions of dollars per year, not to mention the personal and emotional toll it takes on individuals, families, and children.
Even so, “not everyone who drinks regularly has a drinking problem,” states the U.S. National Institutes of Health, “and not all problem drinkers drink every day.” Many who are not alcoholics have developed excessive drinking habits without realizing it. Others drink sporadically but consume more than five drinks on one occasion.
If you choose to drink alcohol, how much is too much? How can you know when not to have “just one more drink”? (Proverbs 23:29, 30, Contemporary English Version) The following articles will consider helpful information on this subject.
^ par. 4 Because men are four times more likely to become alcoholics than are women, the male pronoun is used throughout this series of articles. However, the information applies to both males and females.
