Alcoholism – Your drinking problem Resolved
Long-term heavy drinking damages the liver, nervous system, heart, and brain Click here to see an illustration.. It also causes high blood pressure, stomach problems, medicine interactions, sexual problems, osteoporosis, and cancer. Alcohol abuse can also lead to violence, accidents, social isolation, jail or prison time, and difficulties at work and home. Symptoms of an alcohol problem include personality changes, blackouts, drinking more and more for the same “high,” and denial of the problem. A person with an alcohol problem may gulp or sneak drinks, drink alone or early in the morning, and suffer from the shakes. He or she may also have family, school, or work problems or get in trouble with the law because of drinking. The use of alcohol with medicines or illegal drugs may increase the effects of each.
Is alcohol a problem for me? You have a “drinking problem” when drinking causes problems in your life or health. Drinking alcohol affects your judgment, energy level, work performance and health. Even small amounts of alcohol may be a problem if you: Have any short- or long-term health problems, Are taking medicines (even over-the-counter or herbal medicines), Have people in your family who have a problem with alcohol, Have had problems in your life or health because of alcohol, Feel down or depressed.
students may choose to engage in activities like funneling and binge drinking or drinking games like beer pong and flip cups. Making decisions about alcohol can be crucial in a student’s first year. According to a 2002 college task force report to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, some first-year students are among those who drink the most in college.
Financially these costs are estimated at more than 100 billion dollars per year. The financial costs are also high for those 1 out of 10 people who do seek help for their alcohol problem. Besides the above costs there are many others that are associated with alcohol abuse and addition. There are alcohol related automobile tickets and/or accidents. Blackouts can be a serious consequence of drinking. Depression often becomes a problem and relationships are damaged or completely ruined. People often start drinking at parties or socially from time to time and then may progress to serious and problematic drinking. There are people who are more at risk when it comes to alcoholism than others. Families who have members who are prone to having problems with alcohol should be especially careful when it comes to drinking.
This is how alcohol takes control of the alcoholic’s life! Their thinking is literally impaired! The alcoholics don’t really have a mind of their own. Alcohol speaks for them. Many decisions an alcoholic makes are based on or around drinking. Most alcoholics think they are independent minded, but they are far from being independent thinkers. Unbeknownst to the alcoholic who is in denial is how dependent minded they really are. Always concerned about when and where they are going to get their next drink. Alcoholics will make up acceptable reasons WHY they can drink. It’s a fact of their life that seventy five percent of their waking minds are spent on thinking about drinking or drinking alcohol. Alcoholics have a hard time growing up, even when they are adults. Their reasoning is not sound, but foolishness to the ears. Because they are locked in their own little world of alcohol, they never mature into the potential of who they can become because they are being drowned with alcoholic lies everyday.
The jovial phase of being drunk. The frontal lobes house the functions that control, among other things, your inhibitions, self-control, willpower, ability to judge and attention span. Suppress it, and your self-confidence increases, you start getting jovial, you become more and more generous, and start talking more. This is why alcohol is seen as a good social lubricant. This effect can already be detected with blood alcohol levels as low as 0,01g/100ml – in other words, while you are within the legal limit of 0,05g/100ml. The problem is that even at this level, which is perfectly legal, your loss of judgement ability and your changed personality already increase your risk of dying an unnatural death, for example as a result of being in a fight. Maybe you are better able to control yourself and your behaviour in this phase as a result of good self-control, or education, and the onslaught of the alcohol might pass by relatively unobtrusively. Maybe not.
Craving alcohol is a complicated process that involves several different factors. We are usually first introduced to alcohol at a young age (in our teens). Since no-one under the age of 21 (in the US) is allowed to purchase alcohol, it becomes “cool” and desirable for young adults under 21 to give drinking a try. Later on people grab a bottle of booze to feel better, gain more confidence in a social setting or to forget about their problems. Since the alcohol makes them feel better, at least temporarily, they start to crave it.
