In a recent health check up, I begin to realise that health cannot be compromised. I always thought if you exercise enough and also practice healthy lifestyle, you will be able to maintain a healthy body. But I was wrong. Somehow, there are many other factors that contributes to the health and well being of individuals. One of my greatest weakness is drinking. Although, I cannot consider myself a true alcoholic, but I do sometimes seek refuge in drinking. Let us look deeper into the issue of drinking in Singapore.

Drinking Statistics for Singapore

About 4.3% of the Male population and 0.8% of the female population drink alcohol regularly in Singapore. Regular drinking involves consuming alcohol more than 4 days per week. One of the most dangerous form of drinking is where people BINGE Drink. This happens when people start to drink excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time in order to be inebriated, or what we commonly know as NUMB. The number of Singaporeans who binge drink is believed to be 9% of males and 1.2% of females. You can be a binge drinker even if you are not regular.
The World Health Organization report from 2004 also provided evidence for how alcohol abuse is often closely associated with road traffic accidents, rapes, and mental health problems in Singapore. This can cause a lot of social and family problems. Which is what we saw in the Little India case of riot and also why law was passed no selling of alcohol after 10:30pm and also no public drinking after 10:30 pm.

Binge Drinking in Singapore

There is a growing number of Singaporeans who are engaging in binge drinking. This is a worrying development because:

*This is the common type of alcohol abuse in Singapore, reason being our stressful work environment, and coupled with peer pressure, there is this YOLO ( you only live once syndrome), where people feel that if not NOW then when and they start to drink crazy! But many do not know that early stage of alcoholic liver disease are highly connected with the abuse of alcohol.
* Those people who binge drink are far more likely to develop alcoholism for life and get stuck to it.
* When people are inebriated they tend to make poor decisions. This means that they do things that they later regret, too much drinking also causes poor memory and other forms of health issues depending on the body condition at your stage of life.
* The fact that alcohol impairs judgement also means that people are more likely to be victims of crimes such as sexual assault or violence and the cycle keep going .
* Those individuals who drink excessively are at risk of alcohol poisoning if their blood alcohol content climbs to high. People can die from drinking too much in too short a time period.
* Based on my own experience, this was what happened to me at the point of my accident. Those who drink excessively like this are at risk of blackouts. Individuals experience black out and cannot recollect what exactly happened.
* This pattern of alcohol consumption leads to hangovers the next morning. Those people who have responsibilities the next day will be less productive as a result or even cause accidents to themselves.  This is exceptionally dangerous for people operating machinery.

Alcohol Abuse in Singapore

Alcohol abuse in Singapore is not only damaging to the individual and their family but also to society as a whole. The dangers of this type of behavior include:

• Usually those who abuse alcohol are likely to engage in crime in the spur of the moment.  When they drink they tend to live in a world of their own and believe they are some one else in a ” fantasy” world.
• Those who have prior depression or suicidal tendencies will also leas themselves to fall deeper into the cycle of depression and suicide.
• Those with families are even in a worse off state because the whole family will suffer due to this individual. This is especially so for the “unhappy” drunks. They can get really violent.
• Poor work performance, alcoholism can cause the staff to under perform at work and result in poor performance.  This is the last thing any employer would want to happen to their company.

Underage Drinking in Singapore

Although the legal drinking age for alcohol in Singapore is 18 years old.  Many young adults and teens are still able to grab hold to some “juice” due to availability in the internet, and also some alcohol being readily available at home.  Although vendors of alcohol are responsible to check the age limit of some suspected consumers.  There are however many times that the vendors gives the benefit of the doubt to the consumers.  The WHO study of 2004 found that 73.5% of males and 64.5% of females aged 15 and 19 years of age drank alcohol.  This is a worrying statistics because

* Those people who start drinking at an early age are more likely to develop problems later on.
* Normal brain development can be impeded with abuse of alcohol.
* If they got addicted to alcohol without knowing it, this can affect their future in life as they are not able to perform as well as their counterparts.  Furthermore, they will experience more health issues along the way in future.
* There is a link between alcohol consumption and teenage suicide. Those who are inebriated make bad choices and tend to act impulsively.
*Sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancy are also linked to alcoholism in teens.
* Those people who drink at a young age are more likely to experiment with illegal drugs.
* When young people are intoxicated they are more likely to be involved in acts of vandalism and other more serious crimes.

How to Avoid Alcoholism

The individual is said to be an alcoholic when they have developed a physical and psychological dependence on this substance. In order to avoid developing this devastating condition it is advised that people stick to safe levels of alcohol consumption which would be:

* 2 drinks per day for adult men under 65 years of age.
* 1 drink per day

In the above recommendation an alcoholic drink is classified as:

* A standard beer
* A bar measure of wine( One standard glass )
* A bar measure of spirits ( One shot with or without mixers)

It will not be easy to kick the habit.  But Alcoholism is an addiction which many people will try to kick off.  You can Seek Help from Alcohol Anonymous, Singapore

http://www.singaporeaa.org/

Another avenue to seek help is from

http://www.wecare.org.sg/

This organisation provide support and treatment programmes for all forms of addiction, including drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, and various other compulsive behaviours.  Mainly to curb your compulsive behaviour.

Addiction can be curbed.  Seek help early if you are facing one.