Bottled Depression Sold Here
The World suffers from a greater Pandemic than a virus.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol & Mental Health
Money
Money & Mental Health (peace of mind)
I am keeping this one brief and to the point. The majority of my writings tend to be lengthy and understandably taxing or intimidating.
We use it as an escape and as a supplement to celebration. However, it is also highly addictive due to its pleasurable sensation that is produced from its consumption. Alcohol can be traced all the way back to ~7,000 BCE out of China. Today, it is one of the most widely, socially-accepted forms of substance abuse that is legal under the Federal Government. The year of 2018 saw the alcohol industry rake in $243 Billion in the US alone. It is a fairly common practice to head out on a weekend evening to meet friends, or prospective sexual partners, for drinks and with the hopes of having a great evening of fun and good times.
Yet, alcohol can be traced to having played a role in over 200 health conditions. Ranging from traffic-related incidents, to liver diseases, suicides, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, the list goes on and on. And we still actively seek it out.
According to the WHO, countries that are of a strong economic standing have the worst numbers in regards to alcohol consumption. If you overlay this data with data on depression rates and suicides it’s… well it’s depressing.
If we start at the top; the health issues, how much money are citizens of the United States spending on these health issues? If you’ve read any of my other articles you have likely picked up on the belief in demographic theory — demographics decide everything. And in a society where health care is increasingly more successful, this also means that more individuals end up needing health services. We have the largest elderly demographic group ever, and it’s growing. Alongside the elderly we also have the alcohol-related medical costs, and then throw in the sedentary-lifestyle medical costs. That right there is enough to understand why healthcare costs Americans trillions a year. And we didn’t even touch on mental health!
Regular and frequent alcohol-use can lead to increased adipose tissue accumulation, depression, hypertension, liver cirrhosis, and so-on. Consistent sedentary schedules and inactivity can lead to increased adipose tissue accumulation, depression, hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes, and so-on. When a large portion of the population partakes in both?
Just one of these lifestyles can have adverse affects on self-efficacy, depression, and confidence. But then you realize that both are basically staples in the average citizen’s lifestyle… you start to understand just how it is that some of the most wealthy nations manage to be so depressed.
Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018
The report provides an overview of alcohol consumption and harms in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals…books.google.com
If you want to understand that depression further, think of the costs to paying for the health ramifications. If you’re an individual who drinks regularly, try averaging the amount of money you spend on a single weekend drinking. And average that out for the number of times you tend to average per month engaging in said drinking. Multiply that cost by the number of times per month and take it times 12 (for a year). Now multiply that times however many years you’ve been at this lifestyle. Then look up how much it costs to say.. live with Diabetes, or the average costs for the prescriptions that handle depression or hypertension (which many times go hand-in-hand).
What If…
Now that you’re imagining being depressed because of your deteriorating health, and cascading conditions causing further complications… think of the depression that likely comes along with the finances of that situation. We’re getting into a pretty dark world here…. In a country (the United States) where a large portion of the population is living paycheck to paycheck, and is incapable of scraping together $400 for an emergency — how do you think this situation impacts these individuals? Kinda seems like no way out right?
Let’s parallel this dark scenario with… a new set of events. Imagine halfway through the timeline you used above, you decided to start trying to be more healthy & active. You cut your drinking per month by 50%, effectively cutting your yearly intake and costs by 50%. And at the same time, because you started to be more fit, your body began to reverse the processes of many negative effects that were starting to take root. Your hypertension is getting better, you’re not getting as winded going up a few flights of stairs, you feel more awake each day… AND, you’re not spending nearly as much money.
Just to be clear, a lot of benefits of health will not be realized or noticed for some time. True health is an investment, it takes time and consistency. But while you’re just grinding away each day and each week you start to notice more… changes. On top of spending less money on drinking, your clothes start to take on a different feel — you’re losing weight. Losing that alcohol weight that you’ve put on relieves pressure on your heart and cardiovascular system. Because you’re starting to feel better than you have in a long time your confidence rises, and you become more confident in the process behind being more active. Thanks to the reduced spending on drinks you have extra money to spend so you get yourself a gym membership, where you decide to google, YouTube and ask friends on which workouts do what and what is best for what you’re trying to accomplish and attempt.
As you workout more and more, you start to realize that your moods are shifting. This is because physical activity and working-out release hormones that are designed to reward us for pushing our bodies. Dopamine, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Released as the mind determines success towards what we desire. Endorphins, also a reward system in the body, interact with opioid sites and can create sensations of well-being or euphoria.
Money.
Now, we shift focus. To money. The often coveted, and more often demonized tool of the modern world.
As you’ve gone through the physical changes of adopting a healthy lifestyle, you’ve had your eyes opened to the importance of investment. The impacts of a little bit of effort, applied consistently, become literally exponential. This is what you call (in the finance world) — compounding interest.
You do your workout, each day getting lost in the routine. Almost acting on muscle memory. Each month you’re growing more muscle tissue, which requires more calories to maintain existence. Which causes your body to slowly gobble up more fat cells that make up the adipose tissue you’re constantly staring at in the mirror (as if your sight could magically melt it away like Superman). And each following month you grow more muscle tissue, which costs more calories, which causes more fat-burn. Each month you’re earning interest on your muscle stores, which stack on top of the earnings from prior months. Which, of course, gain more potency with each passing month.
Without even realizing it… you’re gaining a lesson in investment. Doing so with your dollars, is how you really grow wealth. Putting money aside to risk on the market for a future return long down the road. The more consistently you practice this, the greater the returns at the end of the journey. And thanks to your investment in your own health (both physical & mental), you are saving more dollars by: avoiding trips to the doctor for chronic conditions, not needing to pay for medications that come with chronic conditions, and you’re eating healthier and spending less on fast-food or restaurants. Giving you more funds to allocate to further investing in your future.
That’s a lot of stress that starts to melt away.
Money is simply a tool. It is no different than the squat rack at the gym or the muscles in your body. Even then, the body is simply a tool of the mind. We all just have to learn how to use it.
Doing something as simple as reducing alcohol consumption, and getting yourself into a routine of pushing yourself physically for 30–60 minutes per day can radically change your situation. If you accept responsibility for your life and its outcomes.
References:
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.pu.09.050188.001313
History of Alcohol:
Transcript of "A brief history of alcohol"
TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript: Nobody knows exactly when humans began to create fermented beverages. The earliest…www.ted.com
Alcohol Business Statistics:
Topic: Alcoholic Beverages Industry
Beer is a widely consumed alcoholic beverage throughout the world and global production figures have shown an…www.statista.com
Alcohol Health Impact:
Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018. World Health Organization, 2018.
Men Seek Out Alcohol When in Bad Moods More Than Women:
https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/13/health/endorphins-exercise-cause-happiness/index.html