Alcohol Abuse
What is Alcohol Abuse?
The definition of alcohol abuse is very close to alcohol addiction or alcoholism, but can be stopped before it leads to this addiction.
Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that includes one or more of the following:
- If a person cannot carry on their responsibilities at home, work, or school due to drinking they are abusing alcohol.
- If drinking puts a person in dangers way such as driving while drinking the person is abusing alcohol.
- If a person is having legal problems due to drinking, they are abusing alcohol.
- If a person keeps drinking even though it is causing relationship problems then they are abusing alcohol.
Alcohol addiction and alcoholism are the physical dependence on alcohol. Alcohol abuse does not include a physical dependence. However, if a person does not seek help, alcohol abuse can easily lead to an alcohol addiction.
How alcohol abuse effects people short term
Binge drinking is often the type of abusive drinking that is witnessed, since most individuals that abuse alcohol are still employed and only drinking at weekends, thus they drink as much as possible during this time to get as drunk or intoxicated as possible.
The short-term affects of alcohol abuse include:
- Hangovers
- Violent behavior – alcohol is a deppresant that affects the mood, so one minute a person could be happy, then sad, and then angry and violent.
- Accidents – forty percent of household fires are due to excessive drinking – seven percent of drownings are due to alcohol use – half of the adults seen at hospital with head injuries were drunk at the time.
- Hospitalisation – Alcohol intoxication is the major problem seen in those under the age of 15 with close to 1,000 being seen every year.
- Regretted sex – since a persons inhibitions are lowered, it is possible to have sex that will later be regretted. Since a person is drinking they may forget to use protection, may have sex with someone they would not normally associate with, and of course, this increases the risk of a sexually transmitted disease.
How alcohol abuse effects people long term
There are all kinds of problems that affect individuals that abuse alcohol long term including:
- hepatitis
- cirrhosis of the liver
- ulcers
- gastritis – inflammation of the lining of the stomach
- pancreatitis – inflammation of the pancreas
- high blood pressure
- mouth cancer
- throat cancer
- larynx cancer
- pharynx cancer
- oesophagus cancer
- liver cancer
- stomach cancer
- colon cancer
- rectum cancer
- brain damage – loss of brain cells
- heart disease
- heart failure
- neurological problems
- vitamin deficiency – drinking alcohol leads to a loss of vitamin B complex which can lead to diarrhea, depression, anemia, and skin damage.
- Reproductive problems – men can experience the inability to obtain an erection, shrinking penis, shrinking testes, and reduced sperm count. Women – disrupted menstrual cycle, and the increased risk of miscarriage.
- Mental health – alcohol abuse has been linked to such problems as clinical depression and around 65 percent of suicides.
- Dependence also known as alcoholism – Alcoholism affects 9.7% of adults in the United Kingdom.
How alcohol abuse affects the unborn child
Women that drink heavily while pregnant are at risk of having a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Fetal alcohol syndrome can result in deficiencies in growth, problems with the nervous system, facial abnormalities, and decreased intelligence.
At birth, many of these symptoms are not present and many parents do not realize the child has been affected until the child does not develop properly. Besides fetal alcohol syndrome, women can give birth to babies that are stillborn or have low birth weight.
Low birth weight is often seen when a woman drinks more than 10 to 15 units per week.
How alcohol abuse affects people psychologically
The psychological effects of alcohol abuse are often at first the feeling of relaxation and peace. This is the major reason that most people begin drinking - to help them to relax.
Even one drink per night can lead to alcohol abuse if a person begins to drink more to achieve the same affect as their bodies tolerance to alcohol increases with increased consumption.
Problems appear when the person believes they must have a drink in order to relax and that one drink becomes more.
Long-term excessive alcohol abuse can lead to depression, anxiety, problems sleeping, violent behavior, mood swings, and suicide.
Learn more about alcohol addiction, alcohol addiction treatment, & alcohol rehab.
