The Effects of Alcohol

by

Rahul Nag

The complete resource to show you the physical,

psychological and social effects of excess drinking

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER:
Please note that the information contained in this report is for information and educational purposes only.
None of this information constitutes medical advice or replaces medical advice from your own
practitioner. You are strongly recommended to consult your medical practitioner if you have any
alcohol dependence issues whatsoever. Also, if you have significant alcoholism issues, you are
highly recommended to consult alcohol support groups depending upon how serious
your condition is.
The authors, publisher and interviewed experts can be held in no liability for your use or mis-use of
this information and you hereby agree to take responsibility for your use of this material. If you do
not agree with these terms, please return the report to info@alcoholfreesociallife.com
Your reading and keeping of this copy hereby affirms you understand and agree with this disclaimer

© Rahul Nag, 2008. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may
be used without the express permission of the copyright holder

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 Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: What is Alcohol?

Exactly what happens to you when you drink - where does the alcohol go?

Chapter 2: What Impact Does Alcohol Have on You?

The effect of each drink on your behaviour and your body

Chapter 3: Effects on the Liver

The liver has to deal with 90% of the alcohol you drink so here are the issues

Chapter 4: Effects on other parts of the body

Learn what alcohol drinking does to your kidneys, skin and your brain

Chapter 5: Psychological Impacts of Drinking

How alcohol can worsen depression and lead to mental health problems

Chapter 6: The Long-Term Effects of Drinking

What are some of the long-term damages you are doing to your health

Chapter 7: Dealing with Your Drinking

How you can either moderate your drinking or give it up

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 Introduction

1. Getting to know about Alcohol

Alcohol is a socially acceptable drug and something which you may have been
consuming for years without really knowing what it is and what impact it has on
your body apart from the hangovers from drinking to excess.

Well, this report will detail just exactly what alcohol is and what it does to you
from the first sip. How does the body deal with it and more importantly what are
the impacts on the body, mind and the brain. Also, what are the short term and
long term impacts of drinking alcohol.

2. Safe Drinking Limits

Before we start let me say something about excess drinking. Standard units of
drinking are what you need to work out. Very roughly, 1 Glass of Wine = 1
Cocktail = 1 Shot = ½ Half Pint of Beer = 1 Unit of Alcohol

For Men, more than 21 Units a week constitutes a potential risk. For Women, that
level is 14 Units. According to the National Health Service in the UK, you are
recommended not to drink regularly more than 3-4 units of alcohol per day for
men, 2-3 units per day for women.

Different authorities have different figures, with the United States Center for
Disease Control classifying heavy drinking as more than one drink per day for a
woman and 2 per day for a man, with binge drinking classified as 4 drinks or
more on one occasion for a woman and 5 or more drinks on one occasion for a
man.

However, we will stick with the 21 Units per week for a man and 14 Units per
week for a woman. If you are around this level or above it, please read carefully
about the long-term damage you may be doing to your body and brain

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 What is Alcohol?

1. What is Alcohol?

Alcohol is a drink containing ethyl alcohol, or ethanol. Ethanol is a by-product of

the fermentation process (when yeast and sugar are mixed together and react).
Ethanol dissolves easily in water, so it can be rapidly absorbed from the digestive
tract and circulate throughout the body in the blood.

Ethanol acts as a depressant on the body. This means that it slows down the
brain's activities and the activity of the spinal cord. Many people assume alcohol
is actually a stimulant because of the feeling it gives you but this is actually just
the short term feeling.

Ethanol does contain calories but does not have any minerals, vitamins,
carbohydrates, fats or protein associated with it.

The body actually assesses ethanol to be a poison, and therefore has many
mechanisms to try to deal with it and render it harmless

2. What happens to you when you drink alcohol?

When you take a drink of alcohol, the alcohol is absorbed by the stomach, enters
the bloodstream, and goes to all the tissues. The effects of alcohol depend on a
variety of factors, including your size, weight, age, and sex, as well as the
amount of food and alcohol you have already had before drinking this particular
drink.

Let’s begin with how alcohol is absorbed in the body. The first effect of drinking is
felt of course in the mouth. Some alcohols can cause a ‘burning’ taste on the
back of your throat. This burn is caused by the pain receptors in your taste buds.
Essentially, the body is warning you against consuming alcohol because it sees
it as a toxic substance.

Next, the stomach wall absorbs 20% of the alcohol as it enters the blood stream.
Depending on the time of day and when you last ate, the alcohol may be readily
absorbed or slowly absorbed. If your stomach is empty, the alcohol is quickly
absorbed. Essentially only a few minutes after you have started drinking, there
will be alcohol all across your body. The remaining 80% of the alcohol is
absorbed in the small intestine.

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We all have an enzyme in our stomaches designed to process ethanol into a
safer substance. The enzyme in use is called alcohol dehydrogenase. Alcohol
dehydrogenase in men is 70-80% more effective than the same enzyme in
women. There are also age differences - young women and men over 50 years
of age have the most difficulty coping with alcohol.

But note that heavy drinkers and people with alcohol problems have severely
reduced levels of this important enzyme.

The longer the stomach has to work on the ethanol, the less harm it can do to
your body. When a meal is eaten the exit valve of the stomach closes in order to
digest the food. When food and alcohol are consumed at the same time this
prevents the alcohol from passing quickly into the small intestine from where it
would be rapidly absorbed giving the enzyme more time to work.

The bigger you are the more blood you have in your bloodstream. Added to this,
the average adult male is made up of 66% fluid, compared to 55% for women.
So if a man and woman of the same weight drink the same amount in one
occasion, the woman will end up with a blood-alcohol level a third higher than the
man's. It will take a third longer for the woman's body to eliminate the alcohol
from the blood.

The alcohol that passes through the stomach is absorbed by the small intestine.
The small intestine allows 80% of the alcohol to be absorbed more quickly than
from the stomach. Once in the blood stream, the alcohol spreads throughout the
body.

Finally, alcohol enters the nerve cells and begins to have an effect on the brain.
Alcohol circulates in the bloodstream until it is processed by to the liver. The
body cannot store alcohol so has to deal with it. Problems occur when there is
too much alcohol in the system and the liver is being overworked.

3. The Role of the Liver

Alcohol is then metabolized (or oxidised) by the liver, which means simply
that enzymes break down the alcohol. In general, the liver can process one
ounce of liquor (or one standard drink) in one hour. If you consume more than
this, your system becomes saturated, and the additional alcohol will accumulate
in the blood and body tissues until it can be metabolized. This is why pounding
shots or playing drinking games can result in high blood alcohol concentrations
that last for several hours.

The liver works hard to remove the toxins contained in alcohol and is the organ
most affected by alcohol. As the liver works it produces a poison called
acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is actually related to formaldehyde, the chemical

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used to embalm dead bodies. It is this chemical which makes you feel sick after
drinking heavily.

Eventually the poison is broken down into carbon dioxide and water but this is a
long process. By the time this occurs, the poison has circulated through the body
more than one hundred times.

One reason why the liver has to work so hard in removing alcohol is that the vast
majority of the alcohol in your body is taken to the liver for disposal. 90% of the
alcohol you take in is eliminated by the liver with only 10% being execreted
through urine and the breath.

Oxidation involves a process by which the cells combine the nutrients of the food
that has been consumed with oxygen.

Heat and energy are released causing the oxidation of alcohol by the body cells.
The calories from alcohol cannot be stored in the body for future use. These
calories are used immediately by the body. While the alcohol is being burned off,
the fats and carbohydrates of the body are being stored.

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 What does alcohol do to you?
1. What does alcohol do to you?

Here is an overview of what the overall effects of drinking alcohol are. Remember
1 Unit of Alcohol = 1 Glass of Wine = 1 Cocktail = 1 Shot = 1/2 Pint of Beer

Number of Units Effects on the Body

1 to 3 Units • Flushing of Skin
• Heart Speeds Up
• Talkative
4 to 6 Units • Judgement is affected
• Giddiness
• Co-ordination impaired
7 to 9 Units • Vision blurred
• Speech fuzzy
• Reaction time slower
10 to 15 Units • Staggering
• Loss of balance
• Double Vision
20 Units Plus • Skin is clammy
• Pupils are dilated
30 Units Plus • Unconsciousness
• Death

2. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

The key factor which decides how drunk you are getting is called the Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC) or simply how much alcohol there is in your
bloodstream at any one time. They are measured by mass per volume. So, a
BAC of 0.01% means 0.01 grams of alcohol per 100 grams of an individual's
blood, or 0.1 grams of alcohol per 1000 grams of blood.

A rough rule of thumb is that if you consume two standard drinks (which contain
20g of alcohol) when you are sober, your BAC will increase by roughly 0.05%.
Two standard drinks are roughly equivalent to two 500ml glasses of beer at
5% alcohol by volume (a pint of beer is 568ml).

This chart taken from Wikipedia shows the level of Blood Alcohol Content and
what impact it has on you and your behaviour. Please remember all of the factors
such as your age, weight, sex, tolerance to alcohol etc will determine how your
BAC varies not just the number of drinks you consume.
Progressive Effects of Alcohol
BAC (%) Behavior Impairment
0.01–0.029 • Avg. individual appears • Subtle effects that can be

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 normal
• Mild euphoria
• Sense of well-being
• Relaxation
0.03–0.059 • Talkativeness
• Joyous
• Decreased inhibition
• Blunted Feelings
• Disinhibition
0.06–0.10 • Extroversion
• Impaired Sexual Pleasure
• Over-Expression
• Emotional Swings
0.11–0.20 • Angry or Sad
• Boisterous
• Stupor
• Lose Understanding
0.21–0.29
• Impaired Sensations
• Severe Depression
• Unconsciousness
0.30–0.39
• Death Possible
• Unconsciousness
>0.40 • Death
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detected with special tests
• Lowered alertness
• Judgment
• Coordination
• Concentration
• Reflexes Impaired
• Reasoning
• Depth Perception
• Distance Acuity
• Peripheral Vision
• Glare Recovery
• Reaction Time
• Gross Motor Control
• Staggering
• Slurred Speech
• Severe Motor Impairment
• Loss of Consciousness
• Memory Blackout
• Bladder Function
• Breathing
• Heart Rate
• Breathing
• Heart Rate
8
 Effects on the Liver
1. Damage to the Body

The main damage from excessive alcohol drinking comes on the organs which
have to deal with the detoxification and elimination of the alcohol. This falls
almost predominantly as we have already seen to the liver. Whilst the liver is
working to eliminate the alcohol (and one drink can take 60 to 90 minutes to
eliminate) meanwhile the rest of the alcohol consumed is flowing around the
bloodstream.

This means it will affect the rest of the body including the skin, the kidney and of
course the brain.

2. The Liver

What does the liver do?

The liver processes most things a person consumes, including alcohol. The liver
is the only organ involved in processing alcohol, and only a certain quantity of
alcohol can be detoxified over a period of time. Meanwhile, excess alcohol
affects the brain, heart, muscles, and other tissues of the body.

How does alcohol affect the liver?

If too much alcohol is consumed, normal liver function may be interrupted,
leading to a chemical imbalance. Liver cells may be destroyed or altered,
resulting in fatty deposits (fatty liver), inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis), and/or
permanent scarring (cirrhosis). Mixing alcohol and medications may also damage
the liver.

What are the symptoms of alcohol-related liver damage?

Symptoms of liver damage include fatigue, appetite loss, and lower resistance to
infection, jaundice, abdominal swelling, intestinal bleeding, brain dysfunction, and
kidney failure.

Alcohol in the Liver

If you drink faster than your liver can process alcohol you will start to feel drunk.
As we already know, the Liver is the main organ that gets rid of alcohol by
breaking it down. It metabolizes about 90% of the alcohol in our body while only
about 10% is excreted through either our urine or breath.

The liver needs water to get rid of toxins from the body but, as alcohol acts as a
diuretic, there will not be sufficient amounts in the body, so the liver is forced to
divert water from other organs including the brain.

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The liver also produces more toxins in the body as a by-product of breaking
down alcohol. When the liver is metabolizing alcohol it produces acetaldehyde, a
substance which has toxic effects on our liver, brain and stomach lining, resulting
in headache, nausea, vomiting and heartburn..

As discussed in Chapter 1, the ADH enzyme (alcohol dehydragenase) in the liver

breaks down the alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is even worse than alcohol,
more poisonous. However this acetaldehyde quickly changes to acetic acid - or
vinegar. The vinegar burns up to water and carbon dioxide and hence the energy
for day to day living.

The other main problems from excess drinking on the liver are:

• Cirrhosis of the Liver

• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Fatty Liver

3. Cirrhosis of the Liver

Cirrhosis of the Liver tends to develop after a decade of heavy drinking. Exactly
how much alcohol equates to heavy drinking differs from person to person. In
women, as few as two to three drinks per day have been linked with cirrhosis and
in men, as few as three to four drinks per day. Alcohol appears to injure the liver
by blocking the normal metabolism of protein, fats, and carbohydrates by its
requirement to focus on breaking down the alcohol.

In cirrhosis, liver cells are killed and injured, and the resulting inflammation and
repair that is associated with the dying liver cells causes scar tissue to form. The
liver cells that do not die multiply in an attempt to replace the cells that have died.
This results in clusters of newly-formed liver cells (regenerative nodules) within
the scar tissue.

The scar tissue blocks the flow of blood through the organ. The liver's function
includes storing glycogen (comes from sugars) which it breaks down into
glucose. This is then released into the bloodstream which produces energy. It
processes fat and proteins from digested food and several other critical elements
in removing toxins from the body and helping to digest fats.

Cirrhosis starts to impair these functions of the liver. As the situation worsens,
the liver will start to deteriorate and it may start to fail to deal with infections and
blod clots and stop bile from passing into the small intestine.

The Symptoms of Cirrhosis

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In the early stages of cirrhosis you may not notice any symptoms at all. It is only
when the scar tissue in the liver has built up that the symptoms start to appear.
The classic symptoms of cirrhosis are:

• Tiredness and weakness in the body

• Loss of appetite, feeling sick
• Tendency to bruise and bleed easily
• Jaundice - yellow skin colour which is caused by bilirubin, a substance
created when red blood cells are broken down
• Itchiness because of the toxins starting to build up
• Changes in personality because of the toxins in the bloodstream affecting
your brain. Things such as forgetfulness, confusion and difficulty in
concentrating

As the cirrhosis gets worse, the scar tissue will further restrict the flow of blood
through the liver. This will cause high blood pressure or hypertension because of
the pressure in the vein that transports blood from the gut. This can even cause
the veins in the lining of the gullet (oesophagus) and stomach to swell. These
swellings are called varices and they often bleed into the gut and you will then
either vomit blood or pass blood in your stool

Treatment for Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis cannot be treated but can be slowed down. However this will depend
upon the severity of the condition but almost certainly at that stage, no more
alcohol can be drunk.There are various drugs and other options which are used
to try and slow down the process.

This can even result in changes in diet such as a low sodium diet or low salt diet
and water tablets so as to reduce the amount of fluid in the body. Then there are
various solutions for the treatment of the symptoms such as drugs to deal with
the hypertension and so on.

4. Alcoholic Hepatitis

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. This inflammation can vary from mild to
severe.

• Mild hepatitis may actually not have any effects on the body. The only
indication of inflammation may be an abnormal level of liver enzymes in
the blood which can be detected by a blood test.
• When the hepatitis becomes more serious, symptoms can include feeling
sick, jaundice and some feelings of pain over the liver
• The worst situation is when severe bouts of alcoholic hepatitis lead to liver
failure. This can then cause deep jaundice, blood clotting problems,
confusion, coma, bleeding into the guts, and is often fatal.

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When the hepatitis becomes persistent, what is called chronic hepatits, the liver
will become damaged and eventually can cause cirrhosis as explained above.

5. Fatty Liver

When you drink too much on a consistent basis, fat can build up within the liver.
It is not generally seen to be serious and can be reversed once you reduce or
give up alcohol. However it is also seen to be the first step towards cirrhosis of
the liver so is an important warning sign.

Fatty liver can be detected through some of the blood tests which indirectly
measure liver disease. The National Health Service in the UK estimates that 20
to 30% of people with fatty liver who continue to drink heavily will develop
alcoholic hepatitis or inflammation of the liver. Of the people with alcoholic
hepatitis, the NHS goes on to say, approximately 10% of people will then develop
full cirrhosis.

6. Overview of Liver Problems

The key issue with liver problems is that there are generally very few early
symptoms of this disease. This is because there are few nerve fibres in the liver
and what pain you might feel will be over the right hand side of the stomach.

Other symptoms to consider are fatigue, loss of appetite, sickness and diarrhoea,
especially in the mornings.

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 Effects on other parts of the body
1. Overview

The liver is unfortunately not the only part of the body which suffers damage from
drinking alcohol. There are other elements which will be explored here. In
particular the kidneys, the skin, the heart and the brain.

2. Kidneys

The kidney's role is to eliminate excess water and salts in the body as well to
filter and remove wastes in the bloodstream. The kidney is controlled by the
brain. Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH) is the hormone which is used to control
exactly how much water is excreted.

Each kidney contains about 1 million nephron units. These are a collection of
thinly walled capillaries (smallest of the blood vessels) where waste can filter
through the cell walls and can then be removed as urine. The constriction of
these capillaries affects the filtering ability of the kidneys.

When the body needs to conserve water, which is needed as alcohol is a diuretic
and dehydrates the body - the pituitary gland (located in the brain) excretes a
hormone called vasopressin (also known as anti-diuretic hormone or ADH). ADH
causes the nephron filters to become permeable (yielding passage), retaining
more water in the blood stream and allowing less water to be excreted in the
urine.

Along with the filtration of excess water, the kidneys also regulate the
concentrations of the ions sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and
phosphate. These ions have to be in balance in the blood stream to maintain
healthy metabolic processes.

Alcohol can have major impacts on the kidneys. The main ways are from causing
cell damage and enlarging the kidneys to impacting the various hormones that
control kidney function. Alcohol causes an ionic imbalance in the body that can
affect many metabolic processes.

The Impact of Alcohol on the Kidneys

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Alcohol impacts the balance of the ions and water inthe body by altering the
filtering ability of the kidney. Kidney problems can also be exacerbated if the
person also has liver damage as detailed in the previous chapter.

Alcohol affects the amount of ADH available which makes the nephrons in the
kidney less permeable to water and so more water travels through the ureters to
the bladder. This is why you may need to urinate only 20 minutes after drinking.

With more water than usual leaving the body ,all of the concentrations of ions in
the body negatively impact many of the essential metabolic processes. The kind
of alcohol consumed can either increase or decrease the concentrations of
certain ions in the blood stream. Beer is low in dissolved nutrients.

When a person drinks beer, large amounts of water enter the body; that lowers
the concentration of metabolic nutrients and because of the effect of ADH
impairment, an equal amount of water does not leave the body in the urine.

Fluid overload in the blood stream decreases the body’s ionic concentrations and
can be very dangerous, especially for advanced alcoholics who also have liver
disease.

The Effects of Decreased Ionic Concentrations

When a person drinks hard alcohol (such as whiskey or vodka), the ionic
concentrations can increase in the blood stream. The suppression of ADH
causes more liquid to leave the body as water, and ionic concentrations left in the
blood can rapidly increase as more ions (mostly sodium) are ingested with the
alcohol. Alcohol can also impact the muscle cells of the body, causing them to
release ions (i.e. phosphate).

The effects of more ions in the blood stream impacts the water held in the cells of
the body through osmosis. Osmosis pulls the water that resides in the cells into
the blood stream to counteract the ionic imbalance. This drying effect can
negatively impact the normal function of cells and organs.

Effects of Decreased Ionic Concentrations

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Ion Sodium Potassium Phosphate Magnesium

- Impaired - Increased - Decreased blood - Possible

mental thirst. acidity resulting in a enzyme
activity. breakdown of impairment
- Hormonal glucose and
- Seizure in imbalance
Effects extreme increased metabolic
promoting fluid activity.
cases. intake.
- Resulting low blood
sugar.

Source: Montana State University

The Effects of Increased Ionic Concentrations

One alcohol drink can affect the normal function of a person’s kidneys. While
only severe alcoholics suffer from some of the complications, keep in mind that
these ionic imbalances occur each time you have a drink.

Effects of Increased Ionic Concentrations

Ion Sodium Potassium Phosphate Magnesium

- Osmotic flow - Osmotic flow - Creates a buffer - Possible

of water out of of water out of imbalance in the enzyme
body cells to body cells to blood. impairment.
Effects areas of high areas of high
sodium. potassium. - Increase in blood
pH.

Source: Montana State University

3. Skin

Because alcohol dehydrates your body and skin, this causes redness of the skin
and makes it appear blotchy. This can lead to permanent enlargement od the
peripheral vessels of the skin.

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This is particularly more marked with women. Women's skin is thinner than men's
so the effects of drinking on their complexions is more marked. Alcohol dilates
blood capillaries , which can cause the face to flush while drinking. The skin also
becomes greasy and blemished. Alcohol dries the scalp, too, which leads to
severe dandruff and hair loss.

The face can become puffy and bloated because alcohol acts as a diuretic,
forcing water to leave the body in the form of urine. This stresses the kidneys, as
noted above, causing imbalances in the body’s salts, which in turn upset the
balance of fluid in the cells, particularly in the face.

Excessive drinking will lead to the development of telangiectasias or chronic

dilation of the capillaries and a permanent flush on the face. Alcohol also
worsens acne rosacea, a skin disorders that is characterized by redness,
flushing, pusheads and pimply bumps and telangiectasias.

Alcohol also depletes the body of vitamin A, an important anti-oxidant. The

general malnutrition in the body from excess drinking combined with the junk
foods often consumed after nights out will further lead to damages in the skin

4. The Brain

While alcohol is waiting to be processed by the liver it travels in the blood through
the heart to all the other organs of the body, including the brain. Alcohol is
traditionally called a depressant drug because although it can make people feel
buoyed up and it does so by closing down different circuits in the brain. It is both
a stimulant and a depressant.

At low levels alcohol increases the electrical activity in the brain affecting
pleasure and euphoria, (working in a similar way to cocaine and amphetamines).
In this respect it acts like an accelerator. It also works on the circuits targeted by
drugs like Valium - calming, easing anxiety, and acting more like a brake pedal.
Alcohol also acts on the serotonin system, which (like Prozac) increases self-
confidence and reduces depression.

Unfortunately this is usually short lived. Drinking more than a couple of drinks
can ruin any short-term emotional gains. In large amounts, alcohol interferes with
some of the chemical messages in your brain. It can make you clumsy, affect
your coordination and slur your speech. It dramatically reduces your ability to
learn and form memories, which is why people experience "blackouts." Regular

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drinking sessions can make it very difficult to learn new skills or retain new
knowledge.

5. Other potential illnesses from alcohol

There are many other ways in which the body is affected by alcohol. They
include:

• Inflammation of the pancreas

• Cancer of the throat and mouth
• Trembling hands and fingers
• Frequent colds and reduced resistance to infection
• Impairment of sexual performance

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 Psychological Impacts of Drinking
1. Overview

Many people believe alcohol is a stimulant and is a 'social lubricant'. A good way
of relaxing and getting yourself out of shyness and able to communicate and
meet others.

However, as we have already seen, alcohol is both a poison and a drug. In this
section we will learn how alcohol affects you emotionally and can cause you to
become dependent and reliant on its effects.

Also unless you deal with the underlying causes e.g. low self-esteem, a stressful
job you will have an extra problem to deal with, i.e. the effects of alcohol rather
than just the issue at hand. And it can also exacerbate the emotional feeling and
magnify it.

So, if you are in a good emotional state and then drink you are more likely to be
able to moderate your drinking. If you are using alcohol to change your emotional
state then excess is a likely possibility as well as frequently drinking in order to
get back to the change in emotional state.

2. Emotional Effects

The most recognised form of emotional effect of drinking alcohol is the reduction
of inhibitions you feel upon drinking. This is because of its role as a depressant.
This means that it starts to change how you behave and it is the behaviours
which this causes which can be the problem for you.

Drunk people can put both themselves and others in danger through aggressive
or inappropriate behaviour. The lack of awareness can put drunk people in
danger of physical and sexual violence.

Excessive drinking also affects chemical balances within the brain. Such as the
production of serotonin, which regulates moods. So depressive feelings,
insomnia and a loss of concentration can be the results.

Heavy drinking interferes with the balance of chemicals in the brain. It lowers the
production of serotonin, which regulates to mood - this leads to mild symptoms of
depression, including insomnia, sluggishness, anxiety and loss of concentration

Magnifying Your Existing Emotions

Alcohol is like a magnifier. If you are depressed, it will make you more

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depressed. The same goes for angry people who can become angrier and more
violent.

2. Psychological Impacts of Drinking

There are also other likely problems to come from drinking

• Addiction
• Cravings can develop as you rely on alcohol for mood change and
also to divert attention from problems
• Psychiatric issues
negative thoughts and patterns can be developed and exacerbated
by reliance on alcohol
• Affects sense of judgement
Anti-social behaviour and negative social relationships can be the
consequence of excessive drinking

3. Drinking leads the brain to incorrectly assess threats

A report published in the April 30 2008 Journal of Neuroscience shows how

alcohol consumption reduces your biological ability to feel fear. MRI scans were
conducted at the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse on 12
volunteers. These had an average age of 26 - and crucially - were social
drinkers, so they did not drink everyday although they did drink every week.

The averages were 1.9 days a week and 3.6 drinks per day on the days they
would drink. They were injected either with alcohol or a saline solution both of
them. The test was for them to look at images of human faces and some of these
faces were designed to provoke a natural fearful response in the viewer.

The scan was conducted to track activity levels where emotions are processed.
The findings were that the parts of the brain which deal with rewards were
boosted whereas the parts of the brain dedicated to fear were muted.

So even with social drinkers, you can run the risk of the consequences of not
being able to judge dangers which you would normally avoid when sober

4. Feelings of Shame

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Having a problem and not being able to deal with it can lead to you feeling
shameful in revealing the full extent of the problem to you and your family. This
can also lead to avoiding people or situations in which the problem can be
exposed.

This avoidance however will only lead to further isolation and to exacerbate
reliance on alcohol to deal with the pain and loneliness which you are trapped in
in this situation.

4. Negative Patterns To Protect Addiction

A lot of people with alcohol problems rely on drinking to relax and deal with
issues such as stress and worries. So, it is essentially an addiction in these kinds
of circumstances.

People in this situation will therefore develop the thinking patterns to protect the
source of their addiction and their ability to continue with the addiction.

The main issues are the classic issues with dependency which include
obsessiveness and focusing on the source of the alcohol. Avoiding the
seriousness of the condition and that you can change.

Hopelessness is a serious side condition of alcohol dependence. Nothing and

no-one, least of all yourself can help you so you have to drink. This is obviously
distorted thinking.

The main issue is that alcohol becomes the crutch rather than you dealing
directly with the underlying reason why you turn to alcohol, e.g. job stress, family
and relationship problems and low self-esteem. If you were to deal with these
issues, often the need for drinking would naturally disappear.

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 Long Term Effects of Drinking
1. The Long Term Effects of Drinking

This section can be kept short because as you drink large amounts both
frequently and over the long-term, you run the risk of setting in motion the
processes which will affect your body and mind as detailed in the previous
chapters.

Long-Term Physical Effects of Drinking

In terms of the body, it is the liver which is the most likely organ for long-term
damage as it is responsible for breaking down the ethanol in alcohol. Frequent
and excessive drinking will overload the liver and lead to the fatty livers and
possibly to hepatitis and cirrhosis.

The other issues are skin - you can often tell someone who is a heavy drinker
because of their red skin. And then there are the physical signs - the beer bellies
from the excess calories etc.

Drinking too much too often will cause physical damage, increase the risk of
getting some diseases, and make other diseases worse. Excessive drinking over
time is associated with:

• hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver

• gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) or pancreatitis (inflammation
of the pancreas)
• high blood pressure (which can lead to stroke)
• certain types of cancer, including mouth and throat
• damage to the brain
• heart failure
• neurological problems such as epilepsy
• certain types of vitamin deficiency

Emotional Long-Term Effects

We also know about the emotional long-term effects, the number one is the
likelihood of alcohol addiction or dependence. Using alcohol as a drug to change
your mood, make you feel in the short term good about yourself will lead in the
long term to an addiction. This is because it is the strategy you are reliant on
from which you can feel good.

Over the long-term, it becomes a habit to drink and therefore the body and mind
expects it. It can also signify boredom because over a long period you have the

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same behaviours and variety is often needed for enjoyment and excitement in life
which the alcohol can no longer do.

The other issue is hopelessness which can lead to feelings of helplessness and
suicidal feelings. That you cannot help yourself and nor can anyone else. Only
alcohol can do that.

Denial of the problem can lead to both guilt and shame and make it harder to
admit you have a problem, especially because the problem has gotten worse.

So, the earlier you can deal with any issues with alcohol the better - for you both
emotionally and physically.

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 Dealing with your Drinking
Taking Control of your Drinking

With all of the negative physical and psychological effects of drinking we have
explored, it is essential that you are able to drink safe amounts. However to do
this is not always easy.

I also had issues with drinking too much alcohol. I was not an alcoholic but I
started drinking 2-3 times per week when I suddenly had a lot more free time
after becoming freelance.

This lead to me not knowing my limits and starting to drink too much, waste the
next day and worryingly become dependent on alcohol to feel good and change
my emotional state. As I noticed the drinking was starting to get heavier I decided
to make a change and developed a solution to help me change my relationship
with alcohol.

You can find out more about how to take control of your drinking once and for all
at:

www.alcoholfreesociallife.com

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