Alcohol Abuse & The CODEPENDENT
At first, many heavy alcohol users drink in bars or other social situations. One can see the need for others developing (codependency)
and then weakening...As alcoholism worsens, drinking becomes more solitary and nightmarish.
Story:
Inexorably the need for alcohol grew while the
lies wore thin. As my alcoholism accelerated I
abandoned most drinking partners and joined the
ranks of solitary toppers bellied up to countless bars. I
lost any sense at all of what would happen after I
started drinking; I became completely unpredictable.
Sometimes I would go home after a couple of drinks
there was usually more booze there. More often I
would join the lineup of other alcoholics at the bar
telephone stalls jumbling with worn-out excuses
about unexpected visitors and urgent business
meetings. Sometimes I would simply hole up in my
office with a bottle after everyone else had gone home.
There simply wasn’t anything else in my life. Most
frightening of all I began to suffer alcoholic blackouts
during drinking episodes. I would swim back into
consciousness with no recollection of where I had been
or what I had done. Once I came to late at night on
a downtown city street with my suit trousers slashed
down one side by a razor.
Many college administrators feel that the use of
alcohol and other drugs on their campuses is increasing.
As a result many schools have established programs to
educate students about the effects of alcohol and
shows the results of a survey of college deans concerning
alcohol use and abuse on their campuses. The excessive
use of alcohol by many high school students is also
considered a major problem. A recent survey in New
York state found that 27 percent of secondary school
students drink more than moderately.
Evidence that substance use begins at early grade levels
suggests that intervention efforts should begin prior to
junior high school, perhaps as early as the fourth or fifth
grade (Keyes and Block, 2011).
Alcohol and Health
Alcoholism is one of the most common mental disorders
in the United States, and abuse of alcohol is
strongly associated with increased risk of death and
I describe the negative effects of alcohol on various
bodily organs and systems. People who drink heavily
even on occasion face an increased risk of death associated
with accidents, especially those caused by drunken
driving. This is because alcohol acts like a general
anesthetic, thereby impairing driving skills. Drivers aged 16
to 24 have the highest rate of alcohol-related crashes
and shows the relationship between blood alcohol
concentration and the probability that the person
will cause a fatal automobile accident.
Research data show that alcohol is also involved
in a high percentage of non-traffic accidents: almost 50
percent of people who died from falls had been drinking;
52 percent of the fires that led to adult deaths involved
alcohol; and 50 to 68 percent of drowning victims
had been drinking (Alcohol and Health) pg. 87).
Highway accidents in which alcohol is involved
are the primary cause of death for young people. After
18-year-olds received the right to vote in 1971, the legal
drinking age was lowered in many states. Studies of
auto accident statistics from these states produced convincing
evidence that the age reduction had resulted in an increased
proportion of auto crashes and fatalities involving youthful
drivers. Since 1976, therefore, many
states have raised the drinking age. In the 12 months
after Michigan raised the drinking age, accidents resulting in
death or injury among 18- to 20-year-old s
dropped by 28 percent.
Alcohol may also have some beneficial effects.
Moderate use of alcohol (2 ounces, or two drinks, per
day) may lessen the chances of a heart attack (Hennekens
and others, 1979). It is not clear why this should
be the case, but researcher s have suggested a number of
possibilities. Alcohol may reduce psychological stress, or
it may promote the formation of Substances that
prevent or remove the plague that can clog the coronary
arteries. Some researchers worry that announcing positive
effects of alcohol use will be interpreted as a suggestion
that drinking is desirable for everyone. They
point out that it is premature to recommend alcohol as
a heart -attack preventative. A moderate amount for one
person may be too much for another because of individual
differences in tolerance for alcohol.
When alcohol is abused extensively, brain damage
can result. For example, CT scans of young chronic alcoholics
showed reductions in the density of their left
brain hemispheres compared to those of nonalcoholic individuals.
(Golden and others, 1981). Some dysfunction
is present in from 50 to 70 percent of detoxified
alcoholics at the beginning of treatment. Certain cognitive
abilities of people who use alcohol only moderately
in social situations have been found to be impaired even
24 hours after they last used alcohol (Eckhardt and others,
1981).
One of the most dramatic findings concerning the
effects of alcohol has been the identification of fetal alcohol
syndrome. This syndrome, which produces mental
retardation and a number of physical malformations,
results from heavy use of alcohol by pregnant women.
Even light to moderate alcohol use is now thought to
have negative effects on the unborn Fetal alcohol
syndrome is discussed later.
and then weakening...As alcoholism worsens, drinking becomes more solitary and nightmarish.
Story:
Inexorably the need for alcohol grew while the
lies wore thin. As my alcoholism accelerated I
abandoned most drinking partners and joined the
ranks of solitary toppers bellied up to countless bars. I
lost any sense at all of what would happen after I
started drinking; I became completely unpredictable.
Sometimes I would go home after a couple of drinks
there was usually more booze there. More often I
would join the lineup of other alcoholics at the bar
telephone stalls jumbling with worn-out excuses
about unexpected visitors and urgent business
meetings. Sometimes I would simply hole up in my
office with a bottle after everyone else had gone home.
There simply wasn’t anything else in my life. Most
frightening of all I began to suffer alcoholic blackouts
during drinking episodes. I would swim back into
consciousness with no recollection of where I had been
or what I had done. Once I came to late at night on
a downtown city street with my suit trousers slashed
down one side by a razor.
Many college administrators feel that the use of
alcohol and other drugs on their campuses is increasing.
As a result many schools have established programs to
educate students about the effects of alcohol and
shows the results of a survey of college deans concerning
alcohol use and abuse on their campuses. The excessive
use of alcohol by many high school students is also
considered a major problem. A recent survey in New
York state found that 27 percent of secondary school
students drink more than moderately.
Evidence that substance use begins at early grade levels
suggests that intervention efforts should begin prior to
junior high school, perhaps as early as the fourth or fifth
grade (Keyes and Block, 2011).
Alcohol and Health
Alcoholism is one of the most common mental disorders
in the United States, and abuse of alcohol is
strongly associated with increased risk of death and
I describe the negative effects of alcohol on various
bodily organs and systems. People who drink heavily
even on occasion face an increased risk of death associated
with accidents, especially those caused by drunken
driving. This is because alcohol acts like a general
anesthetic, thereby impairing driving skills. Drivers aged 16
to 24 have the highest rate of alcohol-related crashes
and shows the relationship between blood alcohol
concentration and the probability that the person
will cause a fatal automobile accident.
Research data show that alcohol is also involved
in a high percentage of non-traffic accidents: almost 50
percent of people who died from falls had been drinking;
52 percent of the fires that led to adult deaths involved
alcohol; and 50 to 68 percent of drowning victims
had been drinking (Alcohol and Health) pg. 87).
Highway accidents in which alcohol is involved
are the primary cause of death for young people. After
18-year-olds received the right to vote in 1971, the legal
drinking age was lowered in many states. Studies of
auto accident statistics from these states produced convincing
evidence that the age reduction had resulted in an increased
proportion of auto crashes and fatalities involving youthful
drivers. Since 1976, therefore, many
states have raised the drinking age. In the 12 months
after Michigan raised the drinking age, accidents resulting in
death or injury among 18- to 20-year-old s
dropped by 28 percent.
Alcohol may also have some beneficial effects.
Moderate use of alcohol (2 ounces, or two drinks, per
day) may lessen the chances of a heart attack (Hennekens
and others, 1979). It is not clear why this should
be the case, but researcher s have suggested a number of
possibilities. Alcohol may reduce psychological stress, or
it may promote the formation of Substances that
prevent or remove the plague that can clog the coronary
arteries. Some researchers worry that announcing positive
effects of alcohol use will be interpreted as a suggestion
that drinking is desirable for everyone. They
point out that it is premature to recommend alcohol as
a heart -attack preventative. A moderate amount for one
person may be too much for another because of individual
differences in tolerance for alcohol.
When alcohol is abused extensively, brain damage
can result. For example, CT scans of young chronic alcoholics
showed reductions in the density of their left
brain hemispheres compared to those of nonalcoholic individuals.
(Golden and others, 1981). Some dysfunction
is present in from 50 to 70 percent of detoxified
alcoholics at the beginning of treatment. Certain cognitive
abilities of people who use alcohol only moderately
in social situations have been found to be impaired even
24 hours after they last used alcohol (Eckhardt and others,
1981).
One of the most dramatic findings concerning the
effects of alcohol has been the identification of fetal alcohol
syndrome. This syndrome, which produces mental
retardation and a number of physical malformations,
results from heavy use of alcohol by pregnant women.
Even light to moderate alcohol use is now thought to
have negative effects on the unborn Fetal alcohol
syndrome is discussed later.