Drinking in Denial: What We’ll Do to Keep Imbibing
Will cancer scare us sober?
Let’s get to the point: Call it abuse, addiction, dependence, or just a bad habit — but alcohol abuse causes cancer.
I don’t want to come across as a wet rag, I really don’t. I don’t want to ruin your fun.
Listen — I still think those old Hollywood starlets look effortlessly cool when they smoke cigarettes in the movies. I wish it were actually cool.
…I miss an extra salty, spicy margarita at my favorite Mexican restaurant.
…I crave an icy Belvedere vodka martini with a twist — my old faithful. (Honestly, writing that has my mouth puckered and my throat almost tasting it.)
….I dream about orange slices dunked in cold Hefenweizens at a pub during the game.
But drinking doesn’t mix with me. It turns out that it doesn’t vibe well with most people, at least physically (often mentally, spiritually, and emotionally too).
Just because we deny reality doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. This IS happening and we know now closely linked alcohol consumption is with a variety of cancers.
For all the cancer prevention efforts out there, this should be the easiest one to employ. And yet…people are drinking more, not less.
For years, alcohol has been marketed as nothing more than a social lubricant and self-care tool, especially to women, despite undeniable evidence linking it to breast cancer specifically.
This week, the Surgeon General recommended cancer warning labels be put on alcohol bottles. It’s about time: Rates of alcohol-related cancer are rising at 20,000 a year.
If enacted, these warning labels will help begin to dismantle the myths perpetuated by Big Alcohol for the past 50+ years.
Women experience the worst effect of alcohol culture both in the immediate and long term due to biological factors. And yet, we’ve seen the biggest uptick.
»»>The Toxic Relationship Between Women + Alcohol
What have we normalized harmful substances for profit, to our detriment, for so long?
Because it’s easier to believe that “legal” means “fine,” I suppose?
Because we aren’t drug addicts, which is worse, right?
Because you can buy handles of vodka at the CVS at 8am, so it can’t be that bad?
During the pandemic, a “Home Edit” host joked on Instagram that she’d ordered so much wine the company couldn’t deliver it all. I can’t find that original post, but the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way.
Later, we discovered that women ages 40-65 were in the emergency room at more than twice the standard rate for alcohol use during the pandemic. We’re not just pairing a good Cabernet with steak here…
We’re downing full bottles — sometimes daily.
We’re making spinach smoothies and drinking 6-packs of light beer
We’re going to yoga and sloshing Chardonnay with the girls later
Alcohol interrupts our sleep, causes anxiety, and compels us to make questionable choices.
Worse, it ruins families, is involved in 92% of domestic abuse cases and violent crimes, and…it’s killing us at unprecedented rates.
Public Awareness #GOALS
If Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, the Trump administration proposal for surgeon general, takes the helm this month, she is well-positioned to advance this push for warning labels. I hope she does, though getting the process through Congress and into production may take years.
Sometimes warning labels can seem infantilizing or unnecessary. I mean, does anyone really make decisions based on warning labels? Maybe not at first, but there is a huge gap in public awareness right now.
Even as research with the risks is published yearly, it doesn’t appear to be sinking in deep enough.
A 2022 study found that less than a third of Americans know the cancer risks of drinking, while 89% know it exists for tobacco use.
We don’t know and some of us, I think, don’t want to know. That’s what I gather from this kind of thing:
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This announcement is helping bridge the gap, but there’s a lot of work to be done.
The nation’s move toward Make America Health Again (MAHA) is a good sign for this cause. It’s not specifically about alcohol, but if we’re trying to get toxins out of our lives, alcohol is one the biggest culprits. It’s a no-brainer (if only!)
And, like him or not, I’ve always kind of loved that President Trump doesn’t drink alcohol:
Adding cancer warning labels is a necessary step in addressing alcohol’s unchecked influence.
But, here’s what we really want: People to be empowered by this knowledge, prompted to re-examine their choices with alcohol and consider what they really want to pass down to the next generation.
I quit drinking for a variety of reasons, but one of the primary ones? My children. We’ve got a history of alcoholism on both sides of the family. They’re already in a disadvantaged position that way. I don’t want to give anymore fuel to that possibility.
When you tell kids you’re not drinking because of the history of trauma and harm it’s caused in your family, they’re more likely to listen.
They’re also more likely to listen when the adults in their house don’t drink. Let’s build a different kind of next generation — one with less trauma, less cancer and less dependence on substances.
»» We Need to Talk About Dry January
I want to see smaller AA meetings, less people in Al-Anon, more people living longer and thriving without poisoning themselves with alcohol simply because it’s culturally celebrated and accepted as “fine.”
I don’t share this to shame those who drink. It’s about awareness and knowledge. When you know more, you think about things differently. You make different choices, whether it’s a shift in mindset or behavior.
The best way to support this newsletter is to stay up to date on my upcoming book, Grace in the Glass: How Women of Faith Wrestle with Alcohol.
Know someone who would benefit from it? Have them subscribe to this Substack or get my free tips at SobrietyCurious.com.
And…buy a copy of my books, share, and leave a review on Amazon + Goodreads. I appreciate every single purchase + review!
Reason to Return: Why Women Need the Church & the Church Needs Women
Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected From the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma and Mental Illness
