What is Alcoholism and the way teenagers use it?
Welcome to the topic, “What are Alcoholism and the way teenagers use it”?
Alcoholism is the most common form of alcohol abuse and involves the inability to manage drinking habits, resulting in several diseases. Alcoholism affects mental and physical health and can cause work, friends, and family problems.
Warning Signs of Alcoholism
Alcoholism symptoms can encompass health effects, such as bad hangovers and alcohol-induced accidents, as well as social effects, such as doing or saying regrettable things while drunk.
Common signs of alcohol include.
- Being unable to control alcohol consumption
- Behaving differently after drinking
- Drinking alone or in secret
- Felling the need to keep drinking more
- Increased heart rate
- Increased body temperature
- High blood pressure
- Mood swings
- Hand tremors
- Anxiety
Causes and effects of Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a common habit that has numerous effects on people in the United States today. Alcoholics may become argumentative, angry, withdrawn, or depressed. They may also feel more tense, sad, confused, and anxious.
What causes teenagers to drink?
Peer pressure is one of the major causes of why teenagers choose to drink alcohol. Teens are more likely to binge drink and are more vulnerable to developing a problem with alcohol than adults. Alcohol can impair brain development because teenage brains are still developing and some areas of the brain undergo the most dramatic change.
Drinking alcohol can affect brain development in those under 25; young people under 15 years are particularly at risk. Alcohol is a sedative drug that slows down the functioning of the brain. Alcohol is one of the foremost causes of disability and death globally.
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an enduring illness in which you can’t control or stop your drinking even though it’s disturbing your health, your job, or your social life.
How do you know if you’re an alcoholic?
AUD is characterized by loss of control over alcohol, consuming it even when doing so much damage to your health, work, school, or relationships. Alcohol abuse is described by the harmful outcomes of an individual’s drinking.
Test of Alcoholism
Alcohol testing is used to detect the presence of alcohol or its metabolites in a person to determine if they are currently drinking or if they consumed alcohol in the past. Evidential breath alcohol testing instantaneously indicates the existing levels in the person’s breath, and by proxy, their blood.
Treatment
The following are recognized treatment options for alcoholism.
Do it yourself
Some individuals with alcohol abuse manage to abstain or reduce their drinking without any professional help. Drug for cravings Naltrexone may help reduce the urge to have a drink and Acamprosate may help with cravings.
Options for Treatment
There are several treatment options for alcohol abuse but most addicts know the 12-step treatment program or 28 days rehab program. Various treatment programs are effectively working, thanks to important advances in the field over the last few years. A trusted rehab center will be quite effective in the treatment of alcohol abuse.
Learn MoreEffects of Alcohol on Brain
Most Americans drink, about 1/3rd of them take at least one drink a day. The permeating nature of alcohol in the social lives of people hides an important fact: alcohol is a drug, and a potentially harmful one. Alcohol adds to 2.6% of American deaths every year.
While alcohol consumption in small amounts may also offer some health benefits, habitual or binge drinking can harm the brain. The symptoms of brain damage due to alcoholism vary from person to person and are frequently similar to other symptoms related to alcohol abuse, such as dementia.
Here are the expected short-term and long-term effects of alcohol on the brain:
Short-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Brain
Alcohol directly changes brain chemistry. After drinking, alcohol upturns the activity of GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, and decreases the activity of the neurons, causing unclear speech, unstable gait, lapses in memory (short-term), and decelerated reflexes.
If a person drinks excessively, he/she may blackout, which means they or cannot recall what happened. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that one study found that about 40% of students who do drinking had blacked out at least once in the last year.
The brain chemistry changes related to consumption may take a person through an extensive range of moods, including aggression, depression, mania, confusion, euphoria, and anger. Too much consumption in a short period of time may even slow down a person’s heart rate and breathing, causing a coma.
Long-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Brain
If excessive drinking endures over a long period of time, it results in chronic alterations in neurotransmitters’ activities and even structural abnormalities. Imaging studies done on individuals with alcoholism showed atrophy in the brain areas responsible for short-term and long-term memory, emotions and balance.
Some latent long-term effects of alcoholism include:
- heart issues that upturn the risk of stroke
- shrinkage of brain
- poor blood supply to the brain
- dementia
- lack of essential nutrients that may harm the brain or cause type dementia related to alcohol called Korsakoff syndrome
- mental instability, including psychosis and hallucinations
- changes in personality or mood
Chronic consumption in children may exploit brain development. During pregnancy, alcohol exposure can cause an intricate group of warning signs called fetal alcohol syndrome.
Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?
It is a myth that alcoholism can kill brain cells. Instead, it harms the brain in other ways, for example, by damaging the neurons’ ends. This can make it problematic for the neurons to transfer important nerve impulses. Alcoholism may also harm the brain by increasing the risk of accidents, strokes, and head injuries.
Get Help Now
Doesn’t matter how long it has been while drinking alcohol, now is the best moment to quit drinking. Quitting alcoholism can also reverse some brain disorders, avoid premature death, and lessens the risk of further brain damage.
Alcoholism is not a personal weakening. And leaving alcoholism requires the right blend of mental health support and therapy. The right choice of recovery environment can make a big difference, so stay away from the places and people that trigger drinking.
If doing so feels difficult, a good rehab program might offer an environment where beginning sobriety feels more adaptable.
Get help from Us TODAY!
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