 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
Health and Wellness Resource Center offers help and reminders of the dangers of alcoholism
The Advocate
A small, white, wooden cross staked into the ground just outside the College Center has a message scrawled upon it that reads, “One American life is lost every 20 min. in alcohol related crashes.”
The Health and Wellness Resource Center (HWRC) has put up several crosses around campus as a visual reminder of what happens when people drink and drive.
Though the crosses will be taken down next week, the message remains clear: the crosses are meant to “raise awareness about drugs and alcohol,” said Brittney Stanley of the HWRC.
The HWRC wants students to come to them with their questions and any issues they might be dealing with.
If you don’t feel like talking, there is “an abundance of brochures,” said Stanley.
Outside the bookstore, there is a cross that reads, “Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.”
According to The United States National Library of Medicine, almost 17.6 million adults in this country are alcoholics or have problems with alcohol. That comes out to about one in 12 adults.
The website www.nim.nih.gov states that alcoholism is a disease with four main features: craving, loss of control, physical dependence and tolerance.
Research conducted by the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism (NIAAA) shows that the risk for developing alcoholism runs in families. “The genes a person inherits partially explains this pattern, but lifestyle is a factor.”
Problems related to alcohol abuse include “not being able to meet work, school, or family responsibilities; drunk-driving arrests and car crashes; and drinking related medical conditions.” (NIAAA)
Heavy drinking can often increase your risk for heart failure, stroke or high blood pressure, not to mention cirrhosis of the liver. According to the National Institutes of Health, cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death by disease.
Aside from detrimental health issues that may plague alcoholics, the danger is transferred to others when a drunk (or tipsy) person gets behind the wheel of a 5,000-pound automobile.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention showed that 32 people die every day in car crashes involving a drunk driver.
The CDC also found that in 2008, there were 11,773 people killed in such crashes, “accounting for nearly one-third (32 percent) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTA), roughly three out of 10 Americans will be involved in an “alcohol-related crash” at some point in their lives.
For those who recognize they may have a problem with alcohol, there is treatment and help for students on campus.
There is a 12-step support group at MHCC with meetings taking place every Thursday from noon to 12:50 p.m. in Room 1657 (in the Academic Center).
The Health and Wellness Resource Center is located inside the College Center (Room 1051A) at the top of the stairwell. They are open the same hours as the College Center.
The HWRC also has several CD-ROMS available to use inside the center, including Alcohol 101+, Streetwise: The Alcohol Explorer and Under the Influence: An Interactive Look at Alcohol.
For more information, call the Health and Wellness Center at 503-491-7125.
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.