Habits That Hurt Us
We’ve all got vices, but not all vices are created equal. Smoking is going to be worse for your health than going out for fast food once a week. There are even levels of bad habits, with the consequences getting worse the higher up you go. For instance, buying a few lottery tickets on payday isn’t nearly as bad as going to a casino and losing $500 on the high-roller slot machines. Still, we all have to deal with the consequences of our bad habits sooner or later. Those consequences can be minor or severe.
Minor issues
Do you like music? Most people would say yes, and in that case, how do you feel about loud music? In the year 2018, sound systems are more sophisticated than ever, and that means we can blast our favorite songs from state-of-the-art speakers into our living room or from highly advanced wireless headphones into our ears. Loud music is a great way to shut out the world and just focus on the sensory experience. It can even help people concentrate on tasks like homework or chores. But, eventually, turning the volume up to 10 every single time is going to mess up your hearing. Some hearing loss is just a part of getting older, but that can be exacerbated by listening to hours and hours of your favorite tunes at an especially high volume.
If your hearing loss is getting so bad that other people notice it, it’s time to call your primary care physician and talk about treatment options. One such option may be visiting hearing specialists like the ones you’ll find at the New Jersey Center for Audiology. The solution may be as simple as obtaining a small yet powerful hearing aid like one from Blue Angels Hearing.
Major issues
Then there are the biggies. We’re talking about the major addictions or habits that can really mess up your life or even someone else’s life. Loud music might annoy the neighbors, but it’s probably not going to kill the neighbors. The same can’t be said of drunk driving. Alcohol and substance abuse often start in a subtle manner, like maybe binge drinking every weekend in college. But that can quickly turn into doing things like sneaking a flask into the office or blacking out multiple times a week. With drugs, it can be even harder to notice, especially if it starts with your doctor prescribing painkillers to help with a nagging injury. Those painkillers can quickly become an addiction if you aren’t careful, and you may start doctor shopping or even steal in an attempt to get more of the fix you’re craving. Addiction is easy to hide for a little while, but eventually, friends and family members will start to notice that something is wrong, even if they can’t quite put a name to it. Once they figure out what’s really going on, they may try to stage an intervention. Those can be effective, but only if the addict truly wants to get help. The best kind of intervention is one you perform on yourself. When you’re ready to learn how to quit drinking alcohol or wean yourself off the opioids, you should know there are reputable rehab facilities who would love to help you on your journey to sobriety. If you don’t enter inpatient rehab, a local support group for addicts may keep you on the right track. It won’t always be easy, but it’s far from impossible.
