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Alcohol Abuse

By: Terrell Chestnut Nicole Paolucci

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What is Alcohol Abuse?

• A pattern of problem drinking that results in health consequences, social problems, or legal problems.

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Symptoms of alcohol abuse!• Loss of time from school or work due to drinking.

• Depression or unhappiness due to drinking.

• Drinking in order to cope with personal problems.

• Drinking to overcome shyness.

• Loss of interest in family and friends.

• Loss of interest in activities which were once of interest.

• Difficulty sleeping due to drinking.

• Poor judgment.

• Drinking outside of a social setting.

• Showing up intoxicated in inappropriate settings.

• Drinking to build self-confidence.

• Mood fluctuations.

• Developing health problems due to drinking.

• Experiencing memory blackouts during or after drinking.

• Usually drinking to the point of intoxication.

• Feeling guilty about drinking.

• Not fulfilling promises or obligations because of drinking.

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Alcohol is one of the oldest drug ever used

• Alcohol is a depressant.

• A drug is any substance that, when taken into the body, changes the way we feel, the way we perceive things and the way the body works. The word ‘’drug’’ is often interchanged with the word ’’substance’’. (This is why we refer to alcohol as a drug.)

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Alcohols effect on women!

• Women have higher risk than men for certain serious medical consequences of alcohol use, including liver, brain and heart damage.

• Women who drink during pregnancy puts their baby at risk of suffering from mental retardation and other illnesses.

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The following are some of the areas in which women experience more effects than men

who drink alcohol at the same rate as women:

• Liver Damage-- Compared with men, women develop alcohol-induced liver disease over a shorter period of time and after consuming less alcohol. Women are also more likely than men to develop alcoholic hepatitis and to die from cirrhosis.

• Brain Damage -- Women may be more vulnerable than men to alcohol-induced brain damage. Using MRI, researchers found that a brain region involved in coordinating multiple brain functions was significantly smaller among alcoholic women compared with both nonalcoholic women and alcoholic men.

• Heart Disease -- Among heavier drinkers, research shows similar rates of alcohol-associated heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) for both men and women, despite women's 60 percent lower lifetime alcohol use.

• Breast Cancer -- Many studies report that moderate to heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk for breast cancer, although one recent study found no increased breast cancer risk associated with consumption of up to one drink per day, the maximum drinking level reported by most women.

• Traffic Crashes -- Although women are less likely than men to drive after drinking and to be involved in fatal alcohol-related crashes, women have a higher relative risk of driver fatality than men at similar blood alcohol concentrations. Laboratory studies of the effects of alcohol on responding to visual cues and other tasks suggest that there may be gender differences in how alcohol affects the performance of driving tasks.

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Alcohols effect on men• Men are at much higher overall risk for abusing or

becoming dependent on alcohol than women. According to the National Health Interview Survey, published by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 58 percent of adult males reported current drinking in 2005, as compared with 41 percent of adult women.

• Like women, alcohol abuse can also result in men having liver problems, brain damage, heart disease, traffic accidents, and other illnesses.

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Other Facts• The first amount of alcohol reaches the brain

about 30 seconds after ingestion.

• Alcohol acts as an irritant and increases the amount of hydrochloric acid (a digestive juice) secreted from the stomach lining and can cause gastritis, ulcers and severe bleeding.

• Approximately 90 percent of alcohol must be metabolized through the liver and the remaining 10 percent is eliminated through the lungs and urine. It takes about one hour to eliminate one-half ounce of alcohol

• Alcoholics can crave alcohol just as much as food and water.

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Alcohol and Driving

• Driving skills can be impaired by blood alcohol concentrations as low as 0.02 percent.

• Driving and Alcohol are two things that should not mix.

• Approximately 16,885 Americans die from drunk driving. (That’s 1 every 31 minutes).

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Outcome of Drunk Driving

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College and Alcohol• College students will spend about $4.2 billion

yearly for alcoholic beverages--which is more than is spent on operating campus libraries, college scholarships and fellowships combined.

• Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never drink alcohol.

•

88% of all the students surveyed at eight Virginia colleges reported at least one regrettable sexual encounter they could attribute to alcohol.

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College Parties

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How to Confront an Alcohol Abuser

• Talk in a non-judgmental way about your feelings concerning the person's drinking.

• If an alcohol abuser denies that he/she has a drinking problem, let the person know what will happen if he/she does not stop drinking.

• If the alcohol abuser agrees to seek help, then get help immediately.

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Common Traits Exhibited by an Alcohol Abuser When Confronted

• Denial.

• Rationalizing his/her alcohol use.

• Making excuses when promises and obligations are not fulfilled.

• Blaming others for problems.

• Manipulation.

• Dependency.

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Ways to help Abusers

• There are many national and local resources that can help alcoholics.

• Alcoholic Anonymous is one major resource that helps abusers.

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Bibliography• http://www.freevibe.com/Drug_Facts/alcohol.asp 

• http://www.gdcada.org/statistics/alcohol.htm 

• http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/3566.html 

• http://www.thealcoholtreatments.com/facts-about-alcohol.php