Could there be more alcohol commercials on TV?

Wow, there is a lot of alcohol being advertised on TV these days. I never really thought about this until the last few years, when addiction treatment came under my direction at the AMITA Health Foglia Family Foundation Residential Treatment Center.

In addition to anxiety and stress, I now help to manage addiction cases, so to see all of the commercials on TV about all of the new ways that we can get alcohol into our system gives me pause.

I get the whole need to advertise, but I also feel for those who see these commercials and get triggered with a craving or an urge to drink again. It is so difficult for the patients that I have treated, who have put so much effort into getting sober, to just be pelted constantly by taunts to drink all over again.

If you have a friend or loved one who has been a substance user, I wonder if you would consider doing something to honor their journey to sobriety. Would you consider hosting a sober party at your home? Would you be willing to join them on an outing to a sporting event or concert and be a model for them that those events can be enjoyable even without drinking? And, would you be willing to be a person that they can check in with now and then if they are having a tough day?

This summer, when it is tempting to be out on the deck with a summer cocktail, would you be willing to have a person who is trying to be sober over to your deck and serving some lovely iced teas instead?

It would mean a lot to your friends or family who are trying to remain sober and really show them that there are people out there who support them on their journey.