Most people do not have significant knowledge related to the damaging effects of alcohol, and people who abuse alcohol usually do not identify the behavior as abuse. They most often identify their actions as just having fun.
Alcohol is a liquid drug that drugs the brain and body. When used in excess, it is very difficult for one to function in a healthy manner.
The first place that alcohol goes when it enters the brain is the cerebrum or frontal lobe. This area of the brain deals with problem-solving, judgment, the inhibition center, which is the part of the brain that protects one from harm, awareness of abilities and limitations, intelligence, as well as attentiveness and concentration.
When a person is intoxicated with an excessive amount of alcohol, he or she is not as smart as they were prior to being intoxicated. Their ability to assess right from wrong has been manipulated. Their ability to be attentive to danger and their concentration to remain focused on reality has been hampered. When one is in this state of mind, he does not have the ability to be concerned about his well-being or the well-being of others who may be around him.
Someone may say to the intoxicated person, “You better stop drinking or you are going to get hurt or killed or hurt or kill someone else.” The response will probably be, “You don’t know what you are talking about. I can handle my drinking, and I love it.” We can see clearly that when the brain is drugged with alcohol, it is in a very dangerous condition.
I want to note here that everyone who drinks is not an alcoholic, nor is their brain in a condition where it is out of control. Alcoholics drink in excess daily, and if they do not, the individual goes into alcohol withdrawal, which is a life-threatening condition.
There are different stages of alcohol usage that can lead to chemical dependency or addiction. You have the recreational stage, purposeful stage, non-purposeful stage, bingeing stage, and final stage, which is addiction or chemical dependency. The two most dangerous stages are bingeing and chemical dependency. I can go through all of the stages in depth in another article.
No matter what stage your brain becomes drunk, it will not be functioning properly, and it will be out of control, resulting in the possibility of your getting seriously injured or killed or causing others serious injury or death.
More people die in drunk driving accidents each year in the United States than all of the American soldiers who died in Viet Nam ( approximately 45,000). Fifty percent of all fire deaths in the United States are due to alcohol. Seventy-three percent of attempted suicides are related to alcohol, and 37 percent of actual suicides are related to alcohol.
The studies show that American youth have the highest rates of illicit drug use of any other industrialized nation. The combined number of alcoholics and those suffering from other negative effects of alcohol use aged 18 years and older was 17.7 million. An estimated 4.6 million adolescents aged 14 through 17 experience negative consequences of alcohol use.
Alcohol studies have found severe damage to the body and mind. It causes extensive liver damage, resulting in malfunction of the liver, severe pancreas damage and severe heart damage. Severe brain damage called “Wet Brain,” where the brain functions similarly to one who has Alzheimer’s, is another negative effect.
The stomach contains hydrochloric acid, and when it is abused with excessive alcohol, it squeezes out the maximum amount of acid, causing ulcers. When one of the acid-filled ulcers lands on a blood vessel, the vessel can burst, resulting in massive amounts of vomiting blood, which can lead to death. The esophagus is also damaged in a similar way, causing an esophageal bleed, where vomiting massive amounts of blood will occur, which can lead to death.
Alcohol destroys families, causing many children to become orphans, as well as juvenile delinquents and drug abusers. Alcohol takes jobs from people and causes many good people to become criminals and go to prison for extended periods. Vehicular homicide has caused many deaths related to alcohol, and many of the drivers are good individuals who happen to be addicted to alcohol and wind up in prison. One of my female clients spent 19 years in prison for vehicular homicide due to driving drunk.
There is a lot more information related to alcohol and other drugs of abuse, but there is not enough room to fit it all in this article. I hope this information on alcohol has enlightened you in reference to the deadly nature of this drug.
