Effects of Alcohol on Behavior Q&A
Alcohol can have many different effects on your behavior and, over time, can become a semi-permanent part of your natural behavior. Many of these behaviors are negative and can be harmful to you. Visit our board-certified doctor, Dr. Soroya Bacchus, MD, for comprehensive treatment. Continue reading to learn more about the impact of alcohol. We have convenient locations to serve you in Los Angeles and Glendale CA. For more information, call now or request an appointment online.
Table of Contents:
How does alcohol affect your behavior?
What are the 3 psychological effects of alcohol?
What behaviors are associated with alcoholism?
There are a few different causes that are the reason for your alcohol use disorder. After long periods of drinking, the brain may begin to rely on alcohol to produce certain chemicals, which is what can make it difficult for individuals who are heavy drinkers to quit and go into recovery, as it can cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.
There are several common causes of alcoholism, some factors include:
– Environmental factors
Environmental factors may include advertisements that often show alcohol drinking as being something that occurs whenever you go out, you are around others, and is relaxing as a pastime.
– Social factors
Your religion, culture, work, and family can often influence your drinking behaviors. Many will develop alcoholism due to their family playing a large role in it. Children that are exposed early on to alcohol abuse are at a much higher risk of falling into the same dangerous drinking patterns.
– Biological factors
Research has shown that there is a link between biological factors and alcoholism, as well as a bit of physiology and genetics. Many individuals can limit the amount of alcohol that gives them the sensation of pleasure while encouraging the brain to repeat the same behavior. Repetitive behavior is what makes you much more vulnerable to developing an addiction to alcohol. As well, particular chemicals within the brain make you more susceptible to alcohol abuse.
– Psychological factors
Finally, psychological factors will increase your chances of becoming a heavy drinker, particularly with how you cope with your emotions, which can largely affect your behavioral traits.
Alcohol can have several effects on your body as well as your behavior. Alcohol is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and carried into the brain, which can affect the brain’s circuitry and structure. With repeated alcohol abuse, alcohol can create physical changes to the brain’s structure and impact cognitive functions and even your behavior, which can only be partially reversed.
Cognition is known as the ability to process, acquire, store, and retrieve information. Alcohol can impair cognitive behaviors in many ways, including the individual who is under the influence taking larger risks, experiencing “blackouts,” which is a term for short-term memory loss, where they are unable to remember things from a certain time frame, thinking clearly, and making poor decisions.
Alcohol has been shown to impair judgment, coordination, learning functions, reflexes, and your ability to properly discern and react to danger.
There are many psychological effects that alcohol can have on the body. Abusing alcohol will cause signs and symptoms of:
– Depression
– Psychosis
– Anxiety
– Antisocial behavior
There are short-term psychological effects and long-term psychological effects that alcohol abuse can have on the body, including:
Short-term psychological effects:
– Issues focusing
– Relaxing
– Diminished stress
– Reduced inhibition
– Issues with your memory
– Affected coordination, reflexes, and vision
Long-term psychological effects:
– Increased anxiety and depression
– Increased substance use and tolerance development
– Dependency
– Impaired learning
– Impaired memory capacity
– Intermittent brain development
Alcohol abuse and prolonged alcohol abuse will lead to alcoholism. When alcohol abuse goes unaddressed or untreated for prolonged periods, it becomes an addiction where the individual will physically need to depend on alcohol and they will lose all ability to control their drinking regardless of the negative effects it may have on the individual. Alcohol addiction is a serious chronic and medical illness that requires a rehab program to help overcome.
If an individual continues to abuse alcohol, it can have gradual changes in their lives, including the way they act, live, and think. A few behaviors that can change due to alcoholism include:
– Loss of control over what is being consumed
– Dangerous behaviors may occur that may lead to legal, financial, or health consequences
– Increases in negative feelings including anger
– Insomnia
– Oversleeping
– Impairs your performance at work
– Relationship issues
– Violent behavior
– Impulsiveness
– Negative outlook on life
Visit our clinic for the treatment of alcohol addiction. We have convenient locations to serve you. For more information, call us or request an appointment online. We serve patients from Los Angeles CA, Glendale CA, Hollywood CA, Burbank CA, Beverly Hills CA, Santa Monica CA, and Pasadena CA.
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