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It's also one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs in the world, with 7% of the population suffering from an alcohol addiction at any given time.
From your first sip of alcohol, this powerful drug goes to work on your brain and body. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, which means it slows down activity in your brain and spinal cord.
The effects get worse the more you drink, with novice drinkers who have little tolerance facing the worst after effects.
Some of the short-term consequences of drinking include:
Over time, alcohol steadily erodes your health and well-being.
It can also wreak havoc on your finances, relationships, and career, particularly if you become addicted or prioritize alcohol over things that matter more.
Some of the other perils of chronic drinking include:
The toll of alcohol abuse doesn't end with health problems, though. Alcoholism is itself a disease built upon cravings, tolerance and dependence that lead to withdrawal.
For information about finding an alcohol treatment program, call 1-888-993-3112Who Answers? to speak with a confidential, compassionate treatment support specialist.
Alcohol changes your brain from your first sip to your last. At first, cravings may be little more than fleeting thoughts about how alcohol can alleviate stress or offer a distraction. As you become more and more dependent on alcohol, though, cravings can become so intense that they render it virtually impossible to think about anything else.
Though the psychological desire for alcohol is painful, cravings may also be physical, causing shakiness, panic attacks, gastrointestinal distress, and a host of other unpleasant symptoms. Alcoholics will often do anything to alleviate these cravings, including stealing from loved ones or skipping out on work duties.
Tolerance is the first step on the road to addiction. The more alcohol you drink, the more you can drink without getting drunk. Even non-alcoholics experience this phenomenon.
A 21-year-old novice drinker often gets drunk off of a single beer, but a middle-aged heavy drinker may need half a dozen or more beers to get the same effect.
Among people vulnerable to addiction and those using alcohol to cope with emotional or physical pain, tolerance encourages even more drinking. As drinkers consume more and more alcohol to get the same effect they once got with a lower dose, they become progressively more dependent on the drug.
Dependence is the most clinically significant symptom of addiction. While most people who drink experience a desire to do so, dependence goes much further than mere desire.
When you become chemically dependent on alcohol, your brain fundamentally alters the way it reacts to this drug, causing you to believe you need alcohol to feel normal.
When you don't drink, your body reacts as if you have withheld food or water from it, producing powerful and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
For many problem drinkers, it is withdrawal that drives them back to the bottle.
When you become dependent on alcohol, your body enters withdrawal whenever you go too long without drinking. For many problem drinkers, it is withdrawal that drives them back to the bottle.
Indeed, some alcoholics even find that they no longer get drunk, but instead use alcohol just to feel normal. Some alcoholics experience withdrawal so intense that it becomes life-threatening, producing dehydration, seizures, and other dangerous symptoms.
Withdrawal tends to get worse when you must go for longer periods without drinking, and it peaks within 3-7 days of quitting alcohol. After that, symptoms improve steadily, depending on the level of medical care and responsiveness to pharmacological treatments.
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Alcohol addiction can turn your life into something you hardly recognize. When you become an addict, you no longer have control over your own life. Instead, everything is driven by your desire to get another dose of alcohol.
Alcohol is strongly correlated with aggressive and hostile behavior. Many alcoholics find themselves doing things they never dreamed they'd do--stealing from loved ones, assaulting intimate partners, even abusing their children.
For instance, research suggests that about 90% of acquaintance rapes occur when either the rapist, the victim, or both have consumed alcohol.
Just a few of the changes you may encounter due to your addiction include:
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People with a history of mental health difficulties are significantly more likely to develop addictions, but addiction can also render you vulnerable to mental illness. Mental illness makes life more difficult, forcing people to endure unpleasant feelings, as well as mental health stigma. Some turn to drugs and alcohol to cope.
In other cases, addiction leads to mental illness by damaging or altering brain chemistry or by creating painful life circumstances. For instance, an alcoholic who loses his whole family may suffer from depression.
Additionally, alcoholics experiencing delirium tremens may exhibit symptoms that mimic those associated with mental illness.
Unfortunately, the mental health symptoms associated with addiction often become a reason to continue abusing alcohol, since an alcoholic who has already lost everything may begin relying on alcohol as his/her sole source of escape.
The good news is that alcohol addiction--as well as the mental health symptoms it frequently yields--is highly treatable, but it's up to you to take the first steps toward getting the help you need and deserve.