Skim the text to check your ideas. EFFECTS OF DRINKING ALCOHOL

Reading B

EFFECTS OF DRINKING ALCOHOL

The alcohol effects on the body are widespread and range from relatively mild effects such as mile euphoria at one extreme, to alcohol abuse and intoxication in the middle, to unhealthy and destructive effects and drinking problems at the other extreme, such as alcohol dependency, alcohol poisoning, coma, and death.

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. In small quantities, alcohol results in a mild euphoria and usually removes inhibitions. This can be described as one of the psychological effects of alcohol.

Typically, but not always, the short term effects of alcohol are less critical and less damaging than the long term effects of alcohol. Alcohol has a biphasic effect on the body, meaning that its effects change over time. Initially, alcohol typically produces feelings of relaxation and cheerfulness. Increased consumption, however, can lead to dehydration, coordination problems, blurred vision, and a great number of health, medical, and social issues and other drinking problems caused by alcoholism.

Perhaps the most logical way to discuss this complex topic is to focus first on the classic alcoholic behaviors and effects of alcohol in the four states of alcoholism; then examine some of the "social effects" of alcohol and alcoholism and finally, discuss the medical conditions that are caused directly or indirectly by alcoholism.

In the first stage of alcoholism, drinking is no longer social but becomes a means of psychological escape from stress, inhibitions, anxiety, and problems.

That is, early in the disease the individual with the drinking problem starts to depend on the "mood altering" aspects of alcohol.

In the second stage, the need to drink becomes more intense for the problem drinker. In this stage, the individual typically starts to drink earlier in the day. As tolerance increases, moreover, the person drinks because of his or her dependence on alcohol, rather than because of psychological stress or tension relief.

In the third stage, the loss of control becomes more obvious, meaning that the problem drinker is unable to drink according to his or her intentions. For instance, once the individual has had the first drink, he or she can no longer control what will happen, even though the intention might have been to have only one or two drinks. During this stage of the disease, the person typically starts to experience serious work-related, financial, relationship, and perhaps legal problems.

The fourth and final stage of alcoholism is distinguished by a chronic loss of control. In the earlier stages of the disease, the problem drinker may have been able to maintain a job. Now, however, drinking starts earlier in the day and usually continues all day long. Without a doubt, few, if any, full-time jobs can be sustained once a person reaches this state of difficulty.

In the earlier stages of the disease, moreover, the alcoholic had a choice whether he or she would take the first drink. After taking the first drink, the alcoholic typically lost all control and would then continue drinking. In the last stage of alcoholism, conversely, alcoholics no longer have a choice: they must drink in order to function. The following list represents some of the drinking problems, effects of alcohol, and classic alcoholic behaviors in the fourth stage of alcoholism:

Persistent remorse

Moral deterioration

Devaluation of personal relationships

The possibility of alcoholic psychosis

Impaired thinking

Loss of tolerance for alcohol

Auditory and visual hallucinations

Nameless fears

Continual loss of control

The collapse of the alibi system

Alcoholism not only effects the person with the drinking problem, but it also affects those who are closest to the alcoholic, that is, his family, friends, relatives, work associates, and perhaps his neighbors. The following list is a representation of the "social effects" of alcohol addiction:

Broken, dysfunctional homes

Traffic fatalities or injuries on the highways

Birth defects such as fetal alcohol syndrome

Wife battering

Destroyed relationships

Work-related injuries and accidents

Child abuse

Destroyed lives

Alcoholism causes a number of medical conditions, diseases, and health problems that are seen as both short term effects of alcohol dependency and long term effects of alcohol addiction. Chronic, excessive drinking results in a number of alcohol health effects that are exhibited by long-term problem drinkers. Perhaps the worst of these alcohol health effects is cancer.

Unfortunately, the different types of cancer are not the only negative alcohol effects on the body. Indeed, excessive drinking not only manifests itself as various physical effects of alcohol abuse, but also as psychological effects of alcohol addiction. The following alcohol consumption effects represent some of the various non-cancerous medical conditions, drinking problems, and health issues that are caused directly or indirectly by alcoholism:

Harm to the fetus while the mother is pregnant

Cardiovascular problems

Severe thiamine deficiency

Problems with the immune system

Impaired learning ability

Pancreatitis

Memory loss

Dehydration

Kidney failure

Coma

Organ and system malfunction

Inflammation of the digestive system