Genetics and Drug Treatment of Alcoholism

Alcohol tends to have a ripple effect that causes harm in the consumer and the bystanders.
Alcoholism plays a major role in a lot of inhabitants of the United states. According to the Washington Post - around 12.7 percent of the United States Population has an alcohol disorder.

Alcoholics tend to be middle-aged, and they are found to be linked to have some kind of trauma.
Alcohol is one of the leading causes in judgement impairment and bad decisions.
Alcohol is one of the leading sources in judgement impairment and rash decisions.

Long term alcoholism can lead to diminished brain size. The most noticeable places of diminished brain sizes are the cortex of the frontal lobe and the cerebellum. These areas of the brain are responsible for higher mental functions, gait, balance, and certain areas of learning. The way it is determined if the brain has been affected by alcohol is use of noninvasive imaging techniques which provide a picture of the brain.

Brain imaging and dangers of alcoholism. When alcoholics do get sober, a lot of the adults showed signs of lower cognitive functions, such as problem-solving, short-term memory, and visuospatial abilities. However, if the individual refrains from drinking, over a period of six months to one year, they may possibly regain their cognitive functions that were previously lost. If the individual relapses into drinking again, they will lose all of the progress that had been made.

There is not a clear distinction on whether or not it is the excess of alcohol overtime that causes these impairments or if it is caused by consuming an excess amount of alcohol at one time ; then coming back a few days later and doing the same thing. A few studies have been conducted that say a social drinker who drinks twenty one drinks or more per week is also associated with being an alcoholic.However, there are contradictory studies that say the deficits would only be noticed in individuals who drink regularly for ten years or longer. So, really, there is no clear research or results as to what causes alcoholism or how much you have to drink before your brain starts to undergo changes.
Alcoholism is one of the main causes of divorce and dejected families.

More often than not, alcoholics blow through the families budget, cause marital fights, causes the alcoholic person to ignore their children, and diminish the health and happiness of their family life. Individuals who abuse alcohol cause sixty to seventy percent of all physical marital altercations. Over time, alcoholics may develop symptoms of codependency, which can unwittingly cause the individual to keep their addiction alive and make it harder for them to squash it. Getting an alcoholic to admit their addiction and try to fix it can be extremely difficult. However, if you keep persisting you can eventually convince the individual to go to a rehab facility, and/or go to a therapist.

How to handle an alcoholic as a spouse or child. As the spouse to an alcoholic, you have to deal with a lot of unnecessary hardships. Alcoholics are usually very inconsistent in what they do to help people. They make promises that cannot be kept and then you're tuck in the background having to clean up the mess they have made. For most couples where one is an alcoholic, the sober individual feels the need to be responsible for both themselves and the alcoholic. Often, they want to protect their children and the rest of the family from the alcoholics wrongdoing. The spouse of an alcoholic can develop a feeling of loss because of the disease their significant other possesses.

The only way to repair these relationships and get your life back is to put your alcoholic spouse into treatment. This might be difficult to accomplish but eventually, the individual will see how much their family is hurting and want to seek out help for themselves. While it is no secret that pregnant mothers should consume alcohol while carrying a child, it is a less common fact that the father of the child may have the same impact as the mother. Starting as early as twelve months old, alcoholic fathers spoke less to their infant, expressed negative emotions and less positive involvement, and reported more aggravation toward their infant. Other symptoms can develop in the infant around eighteen months old. These symptoms include; more prominent anxiety and depression, and more frequent outbursts like tantrums. Having an alcoholic father can lead to severe mental illness once the child grows up. Often causing the child to have less empathy towards others and to shut out and mistrust the world around them.
Alcoholism has a worse mental impact on the family of the alcoholic whether than the alcoholic themselves.

Cite this page