One of the most important psychological and social problems in today’s society is alcoholism. This is due to the fact that a large part of the world population is addicted to the excessive consumption of large amounts of alcoholic beverages. It is a dependency that is difficult to handle by the patients themselves, and it also has multiple negative repercussions both on their personal lives and on the people around them.

Unfortunately, alcoholism also causes important health effects. It is notorious how there is a decrease in mental capacities, consequently the person ceases to have an autonomy similar to the one he possessed before the start of this addiction. To deepen in relation to this topic, we describe its characteristics, causes and consequences below.

What is alcoholism?

Alcoholism is a group of physical and mental disorders caused by the excessive and constant intake of alcoholic beverages. It is also defined as a disease due to the excessive consumption of ethyl alcohol (hence it is also called ethylism), either through alcoholic beverages or as a component of other compounds.

The prolonged consumption of alcohol generates dependence , for this reason it is considered a type of drug addiction, such as that produced by narcotic drugs and psychotropic drugs.

Two types essentially stand out, the chronic and the acute. Chronic is a pathological condition due to excessive alcohol consumption over many years; and the acute corresponds to the excessive ingestion of alcohol occasionally until reaching intoxication, behavioral alteration and loss of consciousness.

There is agreement in the field of clinical studies that the concept or definition of alcoholic depends on the degree of habituation and the seriousness of the organic repercussions caused by alcohol.

In any case, there is no exact boundary between moderate and excessive intake of alcoholic beverages. The cases must be studied one by one. Depending on each organism, it is a fact that moderate alcohol consumption does not cause serious physiological problems. On the other hand, prolonged intake of large amounts of alcohol produces irreversible organic consequences.

What are your causes? 

Alcoholism has a very diverse etiology that encompasses several areas of knowledge. It is linked to biology, through anthropology, to genetics; and from sociology to psychoanalysis and other psychological doctrines. In this sense, the most relevant causes are the following:

  • The pursuit of pleasure . Human nature has always sought to break through the sometimes exhausting routine of life. For this reason, the production of drinks and intoxicating substances to rejoice and relax is at the cultural and anthropological roots of individuals.

From the psychoanalytic perspective, the subjects seek the liberation of their Dionysian side, which entails the emancipation of instinct, euphoria, animal debauchery and the breakdown of imposed restraints.

  • The sociocultural factor . Alcoholism is a public health problem that is distributed according to social groups, gender, professions, beliefs, idiosyncrasies of the people, etc. In fact, there are levels of alcoholism more or less systematized according to, for example, professional groups.

The environment exerts a determining influence on the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a sign of masculine reaffirmation, a means of social acceptance and recognition.

  • The organic factor . From the organic and physiological perspective, human beings tolerate intoxicating substances in different proportions. There are variations in the tolerance-habit-dependence equation on which the origin of the alcoholic person’s behavior rests.

Thus, tolerance capacity is derived from the link between the level of alcohol in the body and the range of intoxication. Of course, tolerance depends on sex, age, genetic propensity, eating habits , organic and mental health.

The alcoholic person reaches this condition in search of some type of satisfaction and because at the beginning he manifests tolerance to drunkenness, according to the alcohol content of the drink. Then, the body gets used to it and alcohol becomes an essential drug to compensate for the affected metabolism.

In any case, even if the subject has a good level of tolerance to alcohol, they will reach dependence in a more or less peremptory time. Alcohol has an effect on the brain similar to drugs such as cocaine. Alcohol takes control of the individual, who feels thirsty, experiences dry mouth and tremors when sober. After the first drink, the person is unable to stop, until reaching total intoxication.

  • The psychological factor . It is up to the psychotherapist to diagnose the emotional and behavioral disorders that can trigger the excessive intake of alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol consumption is associated with emotional conflicts , crises in love and interpersonal relationships, disorders of self-esteem, failures in personal expectations and the search for oral satisfaction. Even psychoanalytic theory warns that alcoholism is a regression to the oral stage of libido. The subjects would then be reaffirming a psychical-symbolic behavior.

What are its consequences? 

In general, alcohol dependence is defined by the need to drink it on a regular basis. Once the subject enters the vicious cycle of drinking alcoholic beverages, it becomes a spiral.

Alcohol feeds back the habit of ingestion and, in parallel, the body becomes more tolerant, which requires higher doses to preserve the stimulating effect. If the individual stops suddenly, withdrawal symptoms appear: irritability, headache, depression, etc.

From the social perspective, alcoholics become conflictive agents , often without exact awareness of the physical, psychological and moral damage that they generate to their environment.

  • Consequence on mental and central nervous system health 

Alcohol exerts a depressive and narcotic effect on the central nervous system of the individual With only the moderate ingestion of alcoholic beverages the restraints of the conscience suffer a relaxation: emotions and repressed instinctual behaviors emerge.

From the first few drinks, the euphoria experienced is accompanied by a decrease in will control , which leads to the ingestion of more alcohol. For science, alcohol drunkenness is a type of temporary exogenous psychosis that depends on the liters of alcohol ingested and the tolerance of the individual.

Consequently, drunkenness corresponds to the first stage of the increase in the level of alcohol in the bloodstream, which manifests itself with a decrease in the range of consciousness and visible changes in mood (with a tendency to euphoria), increased behaviors impulsive, a loss of fear of ridicule and the elevation of histrionics in communication skills.

The second level in alcohol intoxication leads to narcolepsy , accompanied by a depressive state, which finally ends in the gradual interruption of the functions of the central nervous system.

In short, the intoxicating effect of alcohol increases each time and with it perceptual alterations appear, the reactive and psychomotor capacity and awareness of time and place decrease . An excessive dose can lead to loss of consciousness and even coma.

The reactions of the intoxicated subject are diverse because they depend on the architecture of the individual’s personality. It is a fact that alcohol cancels the restraints of the conscience , for this reason it is possible that the subject shows behaviors totally contrary to his way of being in a state of sobriety.

Only after a process of detoxification of the organism, which is usually accompanied by a deep sleep, the subject recovers his daily behavior. In addition, drunkenness produces partial or total amnesia of the acts committed during it.

Alcoholism has serious chronic consequences on the mental health of those who suffer from it. The neurological and psychological damage is decisive. Below, they are described briefly:

  • Delirium tremens . The most obvious characteristic is the tremor, hence the denomination. However, the individual suffers perceptual alterations that result in visual, tactile and auditory hallucinations. His mood is compromised, going from anguish to euphoria, although mostly without aggressiveness. Delusional disorders become constant in advanced stages of dependence.

Regarding the physiological signs, the alcoholic presents fever and sweating, which leads to a crisis of the circulatory system . If the patient is not treated immediately and is complicated by epileptic episodes, life expectancy is drastically reduced.

  • Alcoholic hallucinosis . The subject suddenly faces auditory hallucinations (to a lesser extent visual), which harass him. There are two classes, chronic and acute. In the first, the individual finally suffers an insane manifestation; while in the second the hallucinations extend for a few days or months and improve with the suppression of alcohol.
  • Alcoholic epilepsy . They are seizures that could be located between Delirium tremens and alcoholic hallucinosis.
  • Polyneuritic psychosis . It is a type of almost total amnesia of immediate actions and affirmations and the destruction of the ability to learn new content. The subject is at the mercy of mental gaps that he supplies with mixed imaginary; sum of half memories with fables. Loses sense of place and time, while confusing the identity of those close to him.
  • Alcoholic paranoia . It is a kind of fixation with certain ideas that could coincide with the signs of sexual impotence due to alcohol, the loss of self-esteem and the affective breakdown that the subject creates in his environment.
  • Consequences in the life of a couple and family 

As for the man who lives with a partner, he manifests himself with episodes of jealousy and unfounded fears that turn into certainties for him. The prognosis regularly worsens, ending in demonstrations and violent actions against the couple.

  • Alcoholic dementia . All the complex functions of the mind gradually decline, such as understanding, cognition and speech. Patients lose sense of time and place. The insane picture is accompanied by extreme malnutrition, up to the point of death.
  • Encephalopathy . The brain is severely affected by prolonged levels of alcohol, which passes into the brain through the bloodstream and lymph nodes. Inflammation of the brain is considered a very serious neurological disease.
  • Consequences on physical health 

Although alcohol has calories, it cannot be used properly by the human body because it is a toxic substance for the digestive system and the set of mechanisms that participate in the assimilation of food.

Excessive alcohol intake produces physiological disorders. The digestive system suffers alterations, such as gastritis and gastric ulcer with loss of appetite, to which is added colitis and inflammation of the liver, and the consequent cirrhosis.

The alcoholic patient regularly has a nutritional depletion of vitamins and difficulty in assimilating food . The physical conditions are naturally diminished by malnutrition and particularly by the lack of group B vitamins. Avitaminosis produces neuritis and polyneuritis, which affect the individual’s motor skills.

Treatment to cure it

The alcoholic subject maintains during his life the propensity to relapse , in case he achieves detoxification and the management of sobriety. If you drink alcohol again, even just one drink, it is considered a relapse.

As has been seen, alcoholism has a multifactorial origin, so that each patient will be treated in their own framework of causes. The first step is detoxification , followed by cessation, with the help of drugs that produce artificial intolerance to alcohol.

In addition, the contextual aspects that led to excessive alcohol intake are studied. In this aspect, the psychologist comes to play a fundamental role. Depending on the individual and their circumstances, the family and relatives are also part of this prolonged psychotherapy process .

Aversion (attraction-repulsion) psychotherapies work very well, while strengthening the idea that alcohol intake is identified with harmful effects. It is proposed that the patient be able to modify those thought patterns that make him prone to continue within the same vicious circle. These same ones are associated with the behaviors that have influenced in creating restrictions in the personal interrelationships.

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Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.

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