Alcohol Effects

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Alcohol effects.  The effects of alcohol are widespread and consist of relatively mild effects at one extreme and unhealthy and devastating effects at the other.  Stated differently, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant.

In small quantities, alcohol results in a mild euphoria and typically removes inhibitions.  In excessive quantities, however, alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning, coma, intoxication (also known as drunkenness), alcoholism, and in some cases, death.

An Overview of Alcohol Effects on the Human Body

Alcohol has a biphasic effect on the body, meaning that its effects change over time. Initially, alcohol usually produces feelings of cheerfulness and relaxation, but increased consumption can lead to blurred vision, dehydration, coordination problems, and a whole host of medical, health, and social problems associated with alcoholism.

As stated above, higher quantities of alcohol can lead to drunkenness.  One of the effects of intoxication is the lowering of a person's inhibitions.  As a result, when people are intoxicated they often do things they normally would not do while sober, frequently ignoring moral, legal, and social norms.

This, then, is an overview of alcohol effects.  What follows is a more detailed analysis of how excessive alcohol effects a person's life and those around him or her when the person becomes an alcoholic and suffers from alcoholism.

Perhaps the most logical way to discuss alcohol effects and alcoholism is to focus first on the classic alcoholic behaviors and alcohol effects in the four states of alcoholism; then examine some of the "social effects" of alcoholism; and finally, discuss the diseases, medical conditions, and health problems that are caused directly or indirectly by alcoholism.

Alcohol Effects During the First Stage of Alcoholism

In the first stage of alcoholism, drinking is no longer social but becomes a means of psychological escape from inhibitions, tension, and problems.  Stated differently, early in the disease the person starts to depend on the "mood altering" aspects of alcohol.  Another feature of the first stage of alcoholism is that a gradual increase in tolerance develops, meaning that increasing amounts of alcohol are needed in order to feel a "high" or a "buzz."

The following represents some of the classic alcoholic behaviors and alcohol effects in the first stage of alcoholism:

• Lack of recognition by the person that he or she is in the early stages of a progressive illness
• Increasing tolerance
• An ability to drink great amounts of alcohol without any apparent impairment
• The use of alcohol as a way to forget problems or to "mellow out"
• A conscious effort to seek out more drinking opportunities
• Drinking is not social but a psychological escape from stress and problems
• Boasting and a "big shot" complex
• Gross Drinking Behavior - more frequent drinking of greater amounts

Alcohol Effects During the Second Stage of Alcoholism

In the second stage of alcoholism, the need to drink becomes more intense.  In this stage, the person usually starts to drink earlier in the day.  As tolerance increases, moreover, the person drinks because of his or her dependence on alcohol, rather than because of psychological tension relief.  Also during this stage, the "loss of control" does not yet manifest itself on a regular basis; it is, nevertheless, gradually noticed by others such as family members, work associates, and friends.

The following list symbolizes some of the classic alcoholic behaviors and alcohol effects in the second stage of alcoholism:

• Chronic hangovers
• Denial
• Unsuccessful attempts to stop drinking
• Increasing tolerance
• More frequent blackouts
• Blaming problems on others and on things external to themselves
• Increasing physical problems
• Feelings of guilt and shame
• Drinking because of dependence rather than for stress relief
• Sneaking extra drinks before social events
• Sporadic loss of control

Alcohol Effects During the Third Stage of Alcoholism

In the third stage of alcoholism, the loss of control becomes more pronounced, meaning that the individual is unable to drink according to his or her intentions.  For example, once the individual has had the first drink, he or she can no longer control what will happen, although the intention might have been to have only two or three drinks.  During this stage of the disease, the person typically starts to experience serious relationship, work-related and financial problems.

Moreover, the drinker starts to avoid friends and family members and experiences a loss of interest in things that used to be important.  "Eye-openers" are also typical during this stage. Eye-openers are drinks that are taken whenever the person awakens to help calm the nerves, lessen a hangover, or to quiet the feelings of remorse the drinker suffers after a period of time without a drink.

The following characterizes some of the classic alcoholic behaviors and alcohol effects in the third stage of alcoholism:

• Unreasonable resentments
• The start of physical deterioration
• Increasing tremors
• An increase in failed promises and resolutions to one's self and to others
• The development of an alibi system - an elaborate system of excuses for their drinking
• Eye-openers
• Aggressive and grandiose behavior
• Loss of interest in activities that used to be important
• A decrease in alcohol tolerance
• Loss of control has become a pattern
• Changes in friendships, such as associating only with friends who drink
• Half-hearted attempts at seeking medical aid
• Serious financial, relationship, and work-related problems
• Neglect of necessities such as food
• The development of an alibi system - an elaborate system of excuses for their drinking
• Frequent violent or destructive behavior
• A decrease in alcohol tolerance
• Loss of willpower
• Problems with the law (such as DUIs)
• Avoidance of family and friends

Alcohol Effects During the Fourth Stage of Alcoholism

The fourth and final stage of alcoholism is characterized by a chronic loss of control.  In the earlier stages of the disease, the individual may have been able to maintain a job.  Now, however, drinking starts earlier in the day and usually continues throughout the day.  Not surprisingly, few, if any, full-time jobs can be maintained once an individual reaches this state of affairs.  In the earlier stages of the disease, furthermore, the alcoholic had a choice whether he or she would take the first drink.  After taking the first drink, the alcoholic typically lost all control and would then continue drinking.  In the last stage of alcoholism, however, alcoholics no longer have a choice:  they must drink in order to function.

The following list represents some of the classic alcoholic behaviors and alcohol effects in the fourth stage of alcoholism:

• An obsession with drinking
• The "DTs"
• The realization of being out of control
• Unreasonable resentments and hostility toward others
• Indefinable fears
• Benders, or lengthy intoxications
• The possibility of alcoholic psychosis
• Impaired thinking
• Loss of tolerance for alcohol
• Persistent remorse
• Vague spiritual desires
• Auditory and visual hallucinations
• Devaluation of personal relationships
• Nameless fears and anxieties such as feelings of impending doom or destruction
• Moral deterioration
• Continual loss of control
• The collapse of the alibi system
• "The shakes"

Alcohol Effects and Social Relationships

Alcoholism not only affects the alcoholic, but it also has a negative effects on those who are closest to the alcoholic, his family, friends, relatives, and work associates.  The following list is a sample of the "social effects" of alcohol addiction:

• Destroyed lives
• Codependent behavior in others
• Wife battering
• Birth defects such as fetal alcohol syndrome
• Destroyed relationships
• Work-related injuries and accidents
• Child abuse
• Broken, dysfunctional homes
• Traffic fatalities or injuries on the highways

Alcohol Effects: Diseases and Medical Conditions

Alcoholism causes a number of diseases, medical conditions, and health problems.  We will focus first on the different types of cancer caused by alcoholism and then on the non-cancerous illnesses and ailments that are the consequence of this disease.

Alcohol Effects: Cancer

The following is a list of different types of cancer that are caused directly or indirectly by alcoholism:

• Liver
• Colon
• Kidneys
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Throat
• Rectum
• Larynx

Alcohol Effects: Non-Cancerous Medical Conditions

The following is a list non-cancerous diseases, medical conditions, and health problems caused directly or indirectly by alcoholism:

• Loss of intellectual abilities
• Diabetes
• Sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction and impotence in men
• Nervous system damage
• Wernicke's disease (a memory disorder)
• Problems with the immune system
• Impaired learning ability
• Pancreatitis
• Vitamin A deficiency (which can cause night blindness)
• Numbness of the feet and hands
• Alcohol withdrawal symptoms when the alcoholic stops drinking
• Dehydration
• Kidney failure
• Alcohol Poisoning
• Vitamin D deficiency (which can result in bone fractures)
• Coma
• Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach)
• Organ and system malfunction
• Inflammation of the digestive system
• Ulcers from the perforation of the stomach and the intestines
• Pneumonia
• Memory loss
• Vitamin deficiencies (such as folate, selenium, riboflavin, thiamin, and vitamin B6)
• Infections
• Mental confusion
• Kidney and urinary tract infections
• Death (from alcohol poisoning, excessive intoxication, and organ malfunction)
• Harm to the fetus while the mother is pregnant
• Korsakoff's syndrome (a memory disorder)
• Cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy (damage to the heart muscle), heart failure, and strokes
• Destruction of brain cells
• Sever thiamine deficiency
• Brain damage
• Cirrhosis of the liver

Alcohol Effects:  Conclusion

The effects of alcohol in the form of alcoholism are wide-spread as well as disastrous.  Indeed, chronic alcoholism is truly a destructive, damaging, and debilitating disease that effects the alcoholic; the alcoholic's social network, namely his family members, other relatives, friends, and work associates; and the unfortunate "strangers" who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the alcoholic causes a traffic fatality or accident because the alcoholic was driving "under the influence" of alcohol.

If this weren't enough, the effects of alcoholism manifest themselves in an amazing number of medical conditions, health problems, and diseases that are experienced by the alcoholic.  At first glance, the number of illnesses and ailments caused by alcoholism is almost overwhelming.  After the situation is examined in more detail, however, the health-related and medical consequences of the disease start to make more sense. 

More to the point, over time, alcoholism progressively breaks down the proper functioning of the body's main systems and organs.  Not only this, but the alcoholic cannot replenish the vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients his body needs because of poor eating habits and perhaps more importantly because the body's malfunctioning systems and organs prevent the proper absorption, metabolism, digestion, and utilization of the nutrients required for repair, growth, and general maintenance.  Therefore, over time, the alcoholic slowly kills himself or herself due to his or her alcoholic behavior.

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