Problem Drinking: Escaping The Alcohol Trap

Problem Drinking – A Way Out!

Problem drinking is something that slowly develops over many years, often decades. The drug actually makes physical changes in the human brain.

Make no mistake this is a powerful and deadly substance. Just because the government says it’s legal to buy and sell does not mean it is safe.

Besides, do you trust the government in any shape or form?

To name a few points, these modifications help sustain an ongoing habit of extreme alcohol consumption. This is a learned addiction that becomes the very fabric of life.

The physical and emotional consequences of problem drinking help illustrate the disorder’s formal distinction as a type of mental illness.

Problem Drinking And Mental Health

Additionally, individuals struggling with problem drinking are more likely to have poor mental and emotional health as well. When you get a drinking problem mixed with other mental health problems thius is referred to as a co-occurring condition. Sometimes comorbidity or dual diagnosis.

The one problem often feeds the next. As such, the existence of a co-occurring mental health condition may considerably raise the impact of problem drinking.

Alcohol’s Psychological Impacts

The psychological consequences of drinking are big. The moment this attractively packaged poison gets into the circulatory system. Alcohol goes directly into the brain and results in a fundamental decline of function. The damage is experienced in both the brain and the central nervous system.

This temporary brain damage helps us understand the visual demonstration of drunkenness, including:

1. Decreasing of individual and social self-consciousness
2. Reduced intelligence
3. Damage to the short term memory
4. Decreased motor control
5. Trouble sleeping
6. Stress and anxiety
7. Mental confusion
8. Disorientation

More Alcohol Equals More Problems

The particular psychological consequences of alcohol consumption differ according to the quantity of alcohol used. A lot of the “intended” impacts of drunkenness show up before the beginning of legal intoxication.

After you cross the legal boundary for being drunk, you start to see more serious problems appear.

Such as:

• A type of memory loss referred to as a “blackout”.
• Serious accidents and trauma
• A total loss of consciousness.
• An unresponsive coma.

The existence of alcohol in the human body also causes shifts inside the brain. Generating changes to the normal amounts of crucial brain chemicals categorized as neurotransmitters.

Including:

• Glutamate, which typically accelerates brain function.
• GABA, which generally decreases brain function.
• Serotonin, which assists preserve emotional state stability.
• Dopamine, which generates feelings of exhilaration in the mind’s pleasure facility.

In an individual who develops a habit of frequent substantial alcohol use. Recurring modifications in the amounts of these compounds result in fundamental shifts in the brain’s ability to function.

Basically, the system adjusts to its new synthetic environment. As soon as it gets to a specific phase, this process of adjustment will result in the start of problem drinking (i.e., alcoholism) in the impacted individual.

Alcohol Addiction and Mental Well Being.

These days you are more likely to alcoholism and problem drinking described as alcohol use disorder. The AUD diagnosis also incorporates non-addicted alcoholic abuse that’s severe. Essentially, heavy enough to disturb any element of an individual’s daily capability or wellness.

Individuals reliant on drinking tend to go through fundamental alterations in their mental well being. These shifts consist of:

• A failure to establish restrictions on how much alcohol is drunk.
• A lack of ability to set up restrictions on how frequently alcohol is used.
• A failure to stop drinking alcohol or cut down on alcohol usage.
• The appearance of potent, often huge alcohol cravings between occurrences of alcohol consumption.

Withdrawal

When the use of alcohol stops or drops below a specific level. An individual impacted by problem drinking will also experience manifestations of withdrawal. Withdrawal’s emotional/psychological signs may consist of:

• Accelerated shifts in the state of mind.
• A miserable or “low” emotional state.
• A nervous state of mind.
• A worried or agitated frame of mind.
• A basic loss of psychological clarity.

An individual diagnosed with alcohol use disorder can have overlaying conditions of problem drinking and non-addicted alcohol misuse. All instances of AUD are categorized by the United States Psychological Association as types of mental disorder. Whether they include alcoholism or problem drinking.

This distinction demonstrates the link between drinking and mental well being. Depending upon the amount of life-limiting issues present. A physician can diagnose a light, modest or serious case of AUD in any presented individual.

Problem Drinking and Co-Occurring Psychological Disorders.

Any debate on mental disease and problem drinking. Or mental disorder and alcohol misuse must include the subject of dual diagnosis or co-occurring mental illness. Numerous significant types of mental health issue tend to show up more frequently in individuals struggling with AUD, including:

• Significant clinical depression and other oppressive conditions.
• Bipolar disorder and other bipolar affective disorders.
• Stress and anxiety conditions (e.g., panic attack, social anxiety disorder).
• Posttraumatic stress disorders.

Individuals impacted by problem drinking experience manifestations of some type of oppressive condition or bipolar affective disorder. This is roughly three to five times more frequent than the everyday populace.

PTSD

Stress and anxiety afflictions affect problem drinkers about three times more frequently than typical. Plus POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER develops twice as often than ordinary.

Individuals impacted by non-addicted alcohol use experience oppressive afflictions. For instance, bipolar affective disorders roughly ten percent to thirty percent more frequently than the overall population. Their level of exposure to stress problems varies from approximately ten percent to seventy percent above the standard.

Non-addicted alcohol abusers also encounter around a fifty percent surge in their POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER risks.

Alcohol Stress Reaction

Specialists think that the link between co-occurring mental disease and drinking problems might be stress-related. Typically, the human body attempts to restrict the impacts of tension with the aid of bodily chemicals. These are generated inside the brain, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands.

Having said that, in individuals who routinely use alcohol, this protection system malfunctions. That’s because substantial alcohol consumption raises amounts of the hormonal agents. These chemicals set off a harmful stress response by the body.

Stress and anxiety hormones also rise in individuals experiencing alcohol withdrawal. Even after withdrawal has cleared up, the body’s stress systems can stay off-kilter for prolonged time periods.

Self Medicating With Alcohol

There is a two-way connection between drinking and mental well being. Considerable amounts of individuals with prevailing mental disorders place themselves at risk for problem drinking. They tend to try to self-medicate their conditions with alcohol.

Having said that, anyone impacted by problem drinking can go through shifts in emotional well being that develop a threat for other types of mental disorder.

Treatment of coinciding drug complications and mental disease is demanding. Oftentimes, the bundled consequences of these disorders result in worse manifestations than would typically materialize in a person only coping with problem drinking. Or even in somebody only addressing an individual mental health problem.

Effective therapy always deals with both problems. This means that individuals with co-occurring issues must stop their alcohol use to restore their psychological well being.

Permanent Psychological Impacts of Problem Drinking.

A lot of the lasting psychological effects of alcoholism are associated with shrinking in essential brain regions. Among the impacted regions, the cerebellum helps control mental control. One more afflicted area, the limbic system, also helps support emotional state regulation.

Additionally, ongoing substantial alcohol consumption results in a contraction in the cortex. This is the brain region in charge of decision-making, impulse management, and abstract thought.

Problem drinkers who form advanced liver issues also encounter one more risk for mental health condition: A serious brain illness called hepatic encephalopathy. Emotional/psychological issues connected with this possibly deadly disorder consist of:

• A re-structured persona.
• Unusual shifts in the frame of mind.
• A lowered frame of mind.
• A nervous mindset.

When problem drinkers get into treatment and set up lasting sobriety. They might recover some of the mental capabilities harmed by brain shrinking. Nevertheless, individuals impacted by hepatic encephalopathy will not improve unless they get a liver transplant.

Mental Consequences of Drinking.

Even when used socially, alcohol may have a considerable impact on ordinary cognitive function. In an Individual struggling with alcohol use disorder. The lasting brain adjustments set off by alcohol consumption may result in issues with mental health.

Because of this, AUD is categorized as a diagnosable mental health condition. The existence of this condition may raise the dangers of other psychological diseases. Including significant clinical depression, bipolar disorder, panic attack, and PTSD.

Also, individuals struggling with these diseases are more likely to be problem drinkers. It’s difficult to deal with co-occurring manifestations of alcohol issues and mental disorder. Still, successful therapy may result in the reconstruction of psychological health.

Alcohol Addiction Vs Problem Drinking

Problem drinking is much more common than full-blown alcoholism. Many everyday people are using alcohol to simply cope with the stress and strain of modern life.

If you are using alcohol more than you want and it’s making you miserable, this website could help.

Not all alcohol problems require embarrassing group therapy or expensive rehab.

While you should always consult a doctor. There are ways to deal with problem drinking without all the usual fuss.

Dealing With Problem Drinking

If you are worried about your drinking, now is the time to take action.

The Stop Drinking Expert offers highly rated online courses and live quit drinking events.

Click here to reserve your place on our next free quit drinking webinar today.

You will even get a free copy of Craig Beck’s ‘Alcohol Lied To Me‘ as a free gift just for turning up!