Short Term and Long Term Effects of Alcohol
Short Term
When a person drinks alcohol, the alcohol is absorbed by the stomach, enters the bloodstream, and goes to all the tissues. The effects of alcohol are dependent on a variety of factors, including a person’s size, weight, age, and sex, as well as the amount of food and alcohol consumed. The disinhibiting effect of alcohol is one of the main reasons it is used in so many social situations. Other effects of moderate alcohol intake include dizziness and talkativeness; the immediate effects of a larger amount of alcohol include slurred speech, disturbed sleep, nausea, and vomiting. Alcohol, even at low doses, significantly impairs the judgment and coordination required to drive a car safely. Low to moderate doses of alcohol can also increase the incidence of a variety of aggressive acts, including domestic violence and child abuse. Hangovers are another possible effect after large amounts of alcohol are consumed; a hangover consists of headache, nausea, thirst, dizziness, and fatigue.
Long Term
Prolonged, heavy use of alcohol can lead to addiction (alcoholism). Sudden cessation of long term, extensive alcohol intake is likely to produce withdrawal symptoms, including severe anxiety, tremors, hallucinations and convulsions. Long-term effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol, especially when combined with poor nutrition, can lead to permanent damage to vital organs such as the brain and liver. In addition, mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy may give birth to infants with fetal alcohol syndrome. These infants may suffer from mental retardation and other irreversible physical abnormalities. In addition, research indicates that children of alcoholic parents are at greater risk than other children of becoming alcoholics.
Think you know the facts about alcohol abuse? If you consume alcoholic beverages, it’s important to know whether your drinking patterns are safe, risky or harmful. If you haven’t done so already, you may want to take this Alcohol Assessment Quiz.
To learn more about the effects of alcohol and other drugs, visit our Drug Guide
Related Links:
Alcohol's Damaging Effects on the Brain
User Comments
Alcohol rehab is the most effective, successful means to break the cycle of alcohol dependence. These programs are not simply a "band-aid" answer; rather, alcohol rehab may the heart of why a person has actually come to be addicted and treats these concerns at the source.
Treatment program for alcohol abuse are committed to the procedure of helping people rise above their physical and mental dependencies to alcohol. Throughout this procedure, the person will definitely endure 3 fundamental phases of treatment: alcohol detox, counseling and aftercare. Each one of the procedures is produced to treat a different element of addiction, attending to the physical, emotional or social parts of the condition.
An alcohol rehab center is an even a spot for recovery, healthier living, and psychological and curative support. The treatment programs that have actually gotten a kick out of the most success in assisting their clients recover after alcohol addiction are those that have actually integrated numerous elements of evidence-based care to enrich the mind, body and soul of the person.
Though every experience in addiction treatment is different and every alcohol rehab facility delivers different treatments and therapies based upon their approach and requirements of care, in general, the primary elements of alcohol addiction treatment must not differ across the board. In additional words, though there are an amount of different sorts of services delivered at rehabs around the nation, according to the National Study of Substance Misuse Treatment Services, there are specific things that customers battling lasting alcohol addiction should effectively exceed their reliance. These feature extensive diagnostics and analysis, alcohol detox, restorative addiction treatment, and continuous aftercare services offered by most Non 12 Step-based residential alcohol rehabs.
Benefits of Residential Alcohol Rehab Programs
1. The personal moves into a dorm-like configuration or an exclusive or semi-private space and gets around-the-clock care.
2. A terrific option for those that require a location to concentrate entirely on their alcohol addiction and individual recovery procedure.
3. 24/7 treatment assists those by having an extremely major alcohol addiction to prevent the relapse that is so typical amongst those living with persistent addiction problems and totally immerse themselves in their recovery.
