A senior community mental officer at the Pantang Hospital, Richmond Baffour, says the claim that one may suffer some health implications without taking in alcohol is a myth.
He explained that there is no medical proof for the assertion, and the people who make them are ignorant.
The expert was of the view that it is best to avoid alcohol as a human or be moderate in its intake.
He disclosed this while speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM.
He warned that alcohol consumption has physical and psychological effects on the person, and if not well managed, it could trigger serious issues for the mental well-being of the addict.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve heard folks make these claims. When you analyse alcohol and its effects on the human body, it would be unusual for any doctor to advise you to use alcohol. Alcohol may be addictive.
When you start drinking alcohol, you may develop an addiction, and if you are not careful, you will find it impossible to stop. From the tolerance stage, you may begin with one tort and progress to two until it becomes an addiction and you begin taking it in bottles. So no doctor will advise you to drink alcohol.”
He further refuted claims that alcohol addiction is a spiritual problem.
He explained that people who have such assertions are struggling to overcome their addiction.
According to him, alcohol addiction is a psychological problem and not a spiritual problem, as some may argue.
“Alcohol addiction starts from the tolerance stage until it becomes an addiction. It gets to a state where you are unable to survive without taking in alcohol. The urge becomes so strong that you are unable to stop.
Alcohol is not water. It has serious medical effects and could destroy your life. At a point, it becomes so difficult to stop, and so people attribute it to a spiritual problem. At the addiction stage, the intake of alcohol has impacted your thinking and mental well-being, and so you have difficulty stopping. When you are mentally affected, it becomes a psychological issue, so it would be best to seek help at the psychiatric hospital for treatment.”
By: Rashid Obodai Provencal/Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana