Focus at Four: Patient Advocate on Alcohol Awareness Month
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – April is alcohol awareness month. It’s the time to help educate people on the issues of alcoholism and how to support yourself or those you love.
David Ludlow, a recovery advocate & Executive Director for Promises Brazos Valley joined First News at Four on Thursday.
He said the signs of alcoholism are as unique as the person who it harms.
“One thing we need to understand, and it’s kind of a misnomer out there, is that alcoholism is a disease. It’s a chronic mental disorder. The bad news is that there is no cure, but the good news is that it is treatable and that recovery is possible,” Ludlow said.
He also mentioned that alcoholism can have major impacts on your health, mental and physical.
“So much of alcoholism and other substance use disorders are deep, deep-rooted trauma, usually, that’s buried for years and years. And we use the alcohol as a coping mechanism. What we do in recovery is learn how to live life without that,” said Ludlow.
He said that about 2 million people across the U.S. identify with alcoholism on some level and the hardest step is accepting help.
“One thing I will suggest to anybody watching is, that with alcohol, it is one of the most difficult of all substance use disorders to detox from. A medical detox, unsupervised, can be fatal. That’s what we do at Promises Brazos Valley, we have medical supervised detox as well as a residential program to help folks get back on their path,” he said.
For more information on Promises Brazos Valley click here or call 979-426-0102.
For emotional and substance use support 24/7, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
