Detrimental Effects That are Related to Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

Some of the negative effects linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class without a doubt frightened me. The ruined lives and countless difficulties experienced by most alcohol dependent individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. Stated briefly, I did not want to face the disaster and destruction that alcohol dependent people almost always experience.

Think about this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that drinking alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teenager wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What adolescent wants to experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to quit drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause serious issues in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a teenager want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that focuses on hazardous drinking?

These issues were so significant that I talked about some of them in class throughout the school year. What was downright incredible to me was the number of students who simply didn’t care about the harmful effects of excessive drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with the facts and how these results can wreck their lives. For the first time in my life I started to figure out something that my grandfather used to articulate all through my younger years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

It’s Beneficial, Liberating, and Important to Keep Away From the Unhealthy and Destructive End Results of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

And even at my young age, I also began to comprehend how liberating, beneficial, and important it is in life to stay away from the damaging and unhealthy effects of alcohol and drug abuse.

Injurious Outcomes That are Linked to Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

Some of the detrimental outcomes linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class without a doubt frightened me. The ruined lives and frequent serious issues experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. Stated briefly, I did not want to face the disaster and destruction that alcohol addicted individuals almost always go through.

Ponder upon this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old teenager wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teen wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What adolescent wants to encounter alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after an individual has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on irresponsible drinking?

These issues were so meaningful that I discussed some of them in class throughout the school year. What was downright astonishing to me was the number of students who openly didn’t care about the dangerous outcomes of hazardous drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with reality and how these consequences can ruin their lives. For the first time in my life I started to comprehend something that my grandfather used to say to me all through my adolesence: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

It’s Beneficial, Liberating, and Important to Stay Away From the Damaging and Unhealthy Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Abuse

And even at my young age, I also started to understand how invigorating, important, and beneficial it is in life to keep away from the damaging and unhealthy consequences of alcohol and drug abuse.

As an illustration, in 2005, medical investigation and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics demonstrated the fact that that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion per year. It can be emphasized that this gigantic alcohol-related expenditure was significantly more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to stress these facts, it is also important to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.

More precisely, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.

Definitely, substance abuse research has revealed that alcohol addiction can boost the risk for various types of cancer, particularly cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Heavy and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and abnormality to the fetus during pregnancy.

Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Weakens the Problem Drinker’s Systems and Organs

Furthermore, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will likely be affected in a harmful manner. For instance, long-term, excessive drinking is especially harmful to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical circumstance leads to a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially terminal medical problem.Excessive, long-term drinking not only can result in serious liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in serious illness or an early death.

The Relevance of Alcohol Counseling

It is vital, then, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol therapy he or she needs.

Alcohol Addiction and Sophisticated Brain Research

Fortuitously, scientific exploration is constantly generating new and significant information. Recent alcoholism exploration offers a good example. Stated another way, for roughly the last ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have demonstrated that repetitive and long-term irresponsible drinking alters the configuration of the brain to a great extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or conceivably as long as the individual lives.

More correctly, medical research has shown that individuals who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for a sizeable length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and severe transformations in the brain.

This type of damage may be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health or directly related to severe liver disease or to the alcohol’s effects on the brain.

Malnutrition, Excessive Drinking, and Mental Disorders

As a final example of assorted medical problems that are substantially correlated to alcohol addiction, consider that according to scientific research, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a health problem that reduces the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

This form of organ breakdown is associated with malnutrition and to a variety of severe mental and neurological problems including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a lasting debilitating condition that is epitomized by persistent memory and learning problems.

Summary

It is plain to see that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly related to a number of critical medical conditions that can and do lead to dangerous ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society so that a massive amount of people will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the professional therapy they require.