You may not think much of a minor slip that hurt your ankle at the Christmas party while you’d had one too many drinks, but alcohol-related injuries can be life-threatening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Road accidents, falls, drownings, relational violence, suicide, and sexual assault are some of the concerns for early death when you’re inebriated. Excessive drinking is bad for your health in any case, with dangers like alcohol poisoning, liver damage, and heart disease.
A 2022 study published in JAMA Network Open found excessive alcohol consumption to be the reason for 1 in 8 deaths between 2015 and 2019 in a population aged 20 to 64. Yet another study published in the journal Addiction in 2014 found that alcohol was a “necessary” condition for death in as many as 79,456 deaths in a year in 16 countries across America (via CBC).
According to Sidra Goldman-Mellor (per Everyday Health), someone with AUD or excessive drinking habits may not be getting the support they require. “A lot of the time nobody outside their immediate circle has any awareness that the person is misusing alcohol […] The person might not even realize their alcohol use is a problem.” If your drinking habits are concerning you or if someone you love is constantly inebriated, you’re better off dealing with the problem now than turning up at an ER injured.