Did you know that 40% of people who seek recovery from substance use disorders enroll in alcohol-related recovery programs? Here in California, almost 17% of residents over the age of 18 report binge drinking at least once a month. Alcohol consumption is a common part of our culture, both in our state and across the US, but would you be able to notice the side effects of long-term alcohol use if you saw them? When people think of long-term alcohol use, they might think of liver damage or even increased risks of liver cancer. While we do know a lot about how alcohol use can negatively impact a ..read more

Many times when it comes to vices, whether it’s consistent caffeine consumption or something more serious like excessive alcohol use, it can be hard to see how much it’s impacting you. People often express, “I could stop at any time,” without knowing the hurdles they might encounter when they do so. When we’re on the inside of a situation, it can be a lot harder to judge it without bias. It’s not uncommon for people to experiment. If you’re having a stressful week and a friend suggests a solution, even if it’s an illicit substance, you trust the source it’s coming from so you give it a try. Y ..read more

When people hear stats about substance use, it’s easy to say things like, “0.8% of people? That’s not very much. It’s not that big of a deal.” 0.8% is the number of adults who reported methamphetamine use in California in 2021. That 0.8% translates to over a quarter of a million people. That’s half the population of Sacramento.  Even if you may be of the belief that “not many people” are impacted by methamphetamines,  those people still matter. This is why we at Pacific Sands take the time to post informative articles about substance use. As a solution-focused facility, we’ve seen t ..read more

A few years ago you got into a bad car accident. Even though you and your loved one recovered, it was something that left a tint on how you perceived the world. After months of physical therapy to get back to normal, you were still hesitant to even get into a car, let alone drive one.  Sometimes at night, you’d lie awake after dreams of being in another accident woke you in the first place. Your sleeping habits had gone out the window since you came home from the hospital. You found it hard to eat sometimes, your appetite waning. Some days it felt like you were looking at the world throu ..read more

You’re at a work event with your partner. People are chatting as appetizers are being passed around. You’re having a good time. Your partner tells you they need to go to the bathroom and ask if you can hold onto their bag. You do so without a problem, continuing to snack as you wait for them to return. While they’re still gone, you hear a buzzing in the bag. You dig around inside, trying to find their phone in case it’s an important phone call. As you’re searching for their phone, you notice something tucked away, barely peeking out from behind a zipper. The phone stops buzzing as you stare a ..read more

You know that alcohol comes with its consequences. Back in college, you remember waking up hungover, with a raging headache and nausea rolling in your stomach. You’d normally shut yourself into a dark room and scarf down some food and ibuprofen to help the side effects go away. As you got older, you started to try different things to help combat these symptoms. Sometimes that meant drinking less, other times it meant trying to space out your drinks more. This helped sometimes, but not all of the time. One thing you’d heard about before was trying to drink more water alongside your alcohol. Is ..read more

You’d been worried about your partner recently. They’d started having weird routines in the evening, often coming home late and acting a bit off when they did. You knew that they’d had issues with cocaine use a few years ago, but they’d left it behind and told you they planned on staying away from drugs. Now, however, some of their behaviors were making you suspicious. You didn’t want to jump the gun and decided to try and gather some evidence first. You hated that you were sneaking around a bit to do it, but then you overheard a conversation your partner was having on the phone. They asked i ..read more

You were at a social event for work. Cocktails and champagne were being passed around to sip on throughout the evening. You knew many of the people there, and you were having a good time sipping and chatting. The slight buzz of the alcohol helped relieve any nerves you had about some of the newcomers present. It was a lovely time.  When you were back home later that night, however, some thoughts began to creep in. Did people actually like you at the event? What if they were judging you for what you drank? Was that joke you made actually funny, or were people laughing at you instead? Were ..read more

When you stepped into the house, the smell of alcohol lingered in the air. It instantly made you tense up. Your partner’s history of alcohol use wasn’t new, but recently they’d started drinking more and it had started to impact their emotions. Specifically, they were generally much quicker to anger than they usually are.  Honestly, it scared you. They’d shouted over little things, thrown bottles, and punched a hole in a new Wyland painting you’d bought, costing you thousands of dollars. You’d been moderately concerned about their alcohol use before, but now you just wanted them to look in ..read more

You drink after work each night to take the edge off of your long, hard days. You make sure to hide your alcohol in an opaque canister and drink it on your way home. Your partner has expressed concern about your drinking before and you don’t want to worry them. It just helps you feel better – it’s not that big of a deal. If you’ve ever intentionally taken steps to hide alcohol or alcohol consumption, you might be a closeted alcoholic. What makes an alcoholic “closeted?” Is it a bad thing? How can you spot if a loved one is hiding their alcohol use from you? Here at Pacific Sands, we get quest ..read more