April kicks off festival season in New Orleans, but can you party without alcohol? With April being Alcohol Awareness Month, now is a good time for a little self-evaluation.
April begins one of the best festival seasons in New Orleans: French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, Oyster Fest, ESSENCE Festival, and more! April is also Alcohol Awareness Month and a good time to check-in and see if you can party without alcohol. Can you?
Early Signs of an Alcohol Problem
One of the common early symptoms of alcohol abuse is the inability to abstain from alcohol without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Watch for some of these symptoms of withdrawal when you abstain from drinking alcohol: feeling of jumpiness or nervousness, anxiety, irritability or changes in mood (esp. volatile or rapid changes), depression, fatigue, or difficulty thinking.
According to The Alcoholism Guide, some common warning signs of a drinking problem are:
- An individual will make any excuse to drink, whether to celebrate good news, get over bad news, or indifferent news.
- An individual will hide their stashes of alcohol around the house.
- An individual may become only interested in attending parties or social gatherings where there will be alcohol involved.
- An individual will often go to bed after their spouse to be able to “drink in peace.”
- An individual will start drinking earlier in the day or more frequently to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
- An individual may get defensive when questioned about their drinking.
- An individual may neglect their responsibilities in order to drink.
You can also take the NCADD’s self test and see how you do. Even if you answer ‘yes’ to only a few of the questions, you may want to consider reaching out to one of our specialists to discuss further evaluation.
Drinking too much? Try the 3 D’s
So what do you do if you realize you might be drinking too much: Decide, Devise and Detox! Decide you need help. Reach out to one of our specialists to devise a plan that works for you in this great city. And give yourself the upper hand by detoxing with NAD Brain Refuel™ , which is a protocol that combines the powerhouses of NAD Therapy and FastVitaminIV™ to create a truly unique and advantageous approach to detox and cellular repair.
Alcohol Awareness Month is a great time to remember not to put off until tomorrow what can and needs to be done today. Give us a call and we’ll help you begin to strategize. Don’t miss out on all the great things that New Orleans has to offer because of alcohol.
For those already living their best life in recovery, we recommend:
- French Quarter Festival: April 12-15, 2018
- Satchmo Summer Fest: April 12-15, 2018
- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: April 27-May 6, 2018
