People in Teesside urged to watch their drinking this May bank holiday
It's thought with the weather getting better and lighter evenings it can be more tempting to binge drink
People in Teesside are being urged to watch their drinking this May bank holiday weekend.
It's thought with the weather getting better and lighter evenings it can be more tempting to binge drink.
Gillian Collier, a recovery navigator from the drug and alcohol support charity With You in Redcar and Cleveland, said: "Stay hydrated. When the sun's out, you can dehydrate, which can be detrimental to anybody's health. Drinking plenty of water and having some soft drinks in between the alcohol, or even having non-alcoholic drinks that look like alcohol if they want to be inclusive.
"Take time drinking. There's no rush. If you can't remember the night, then you've missed out. Enjoy the time that you have, but just do it carefully. The alcohol units, basically, 14 units a week is the government guidelines for males and females, so just be aware of how much you're drinking and when.
"We offer groups, we offer one-to-one support, we offer alcohol assessments with our alcohol nurses where they can look at detoxes, rehabs, we can look at relapse prevention work and relapse prevention medications to stop those thought processes.
"I think there's a misconception that people that have never been into a service before think that we're telling people that they have to stop and that's not the case. We're working with the persons drinking, so if they want to be a social drinker, we'll work towards being a social drinker. If they want to stop drinking, we will work towards them stopping drinking. It's what their healthier life looks like to them, not to us.
"We get some really, really good outcomes. We've got people that have gone back into work because they're no longer under the influence. The families are seeing a difference, their health is seeing a difference. You know, they're not as anxious anymore as we know that alcohol does cause anxiety. It can cause a lot of mental health issues as well as the physical health issues as well, so we see a lot of good outcomes."
Anthony Trattles, station manager for Thornaby and Yarm at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: "Don't drink and dive. I know we have a slogan of don't drink and drive, but the message from Cleveland Fire Brigade is don't drink and dive. So it's about staying away from that water if you are under the influence, because it can lead to life-threatening changes.
"Every year we have incidents where people have drowned in the water and they've been either enjoying the warm weather, they've been having a picnic, they've been having a few drinks, and unfortunately we have people who've drowned, who've been involved in drugs and alcohol."