At Suncoast Rehabilitation Center, we have encountered and helped many people work through alcohol addiction. 

Chances are, you have known or are related to at least one person suffering from alcoholism.  An estimated 17 million Americans have an alcohol abuse problem.  Additionally, about 80,000 people in the U.S. die each year from an alcohol-related cause.  This makes alcohol abuse the third leading preventable cause of death in our country.

With alcohol abuse affecting so many people, it is a good idea to understand how alcohol works – and why it’s actually a drug.

How Alcohol Affects the Brain

Alcohol affects your entire body, but, the first place we’ll look at is your brain.  Alcohol is generally a depressant which slows the production of specific brain messengers called neurotransmitters.  One significant neurotransmitter alcohol slows down called glutamate. This brain chemical increases brain activity and energy levels.  So, when the production of glutamate is slowed down, the person drinking feels less energetic, their body slows down, and they get relaxed or tired. 

At the same time, alcohol increases the GABA which is a chemical produced in the brain that reduces energy levels. This chemical is known to elevate mood but at the same time slow down the body by blocking other brain signals.  Increased GABA production helps explain why a person who is drinking begins to slur their speech, why their reaction time and thought processes slow down, and why they have difficulty coordinating their movements.  Other drugs that amp up the GABA levels are benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium – which is also why one would never want to drink alcohol while taking these drugs – the combination can slow the heart rate and respiratory system down to dangerously low levels.

Along with GABA, alcohol also increases the production of the chemical dopamine which affects how the person perceives pain and pleasure.  Many addictive substances increase the affect or production of dopamine.  What happens is that, when the person uses the drug, dopamine production increases, but as the drug wears off, it decreases.  After a while, the brain decides to only produce large amounts of dopamine when the drug is taken and it actually lowers the amount of dopamine in the system when the drug has worn off.  

This dopamine increase is one of the major reasons drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and amphetamines are addictive.  When a person takes them, they feel great.  Then, when the drug wears off, they crash and feel terrible.  Depression and anxiety fill them to a bursting point.  They need the drug in order to stop feeling this way.  What they are really feeling is the exhaustion of their dopamine levels.

Studies have indicated that men release more dopamine when drinking than women, which might be why more men end up becoming alcoholics than women.

Alcohol = Poison

We have explored what alcohol does to your brain.  What does it do to the rest of your body?

The human body sees alcohol as a poison.  This is because alcohol actually does nothing beneficial for you and harms your system.  As soon as you sip on a drink, your body begins fighting to turn alcohol into something harmless.

When you take a drink, your body fights back by producing an enzyme which works to make the alcohol non-toxic.  If you keep drinking, your body eventually just can’t keep up.  The speed at which your body becomes overwhelmed has to do with how much you are drinking, how fast, and what the alcohol by volume is per drink.

The body tries to get rid of alcohol by pushing it through your digestive system and filtering it – along with any other toxins you have consumed – through your liver.

Alcohol actually affects your whole body, your digestive system, liver, pancreas, heart, and lungs.  It slows down the function of these organs, making them work harder and less efficiently.  This is why alcohol can cause organ failure and actually kill people who have been drinking heavily for many years. It is also why alcoholics frequently suffer from cirrhosis of the liver.

Death due to years of alcohol abuse is very preventable.  Our goal is to save people from this circumstance, rehabilitate them so they are no longer addicted to alcohol and can live drug free and happy.  In order to achieve this, you need to reach out to us and let us know if you or a friend are suffering from alcoholism.

Signs of Alcoholism

Here are a few signs of alcoholism: 

• Drinking on a daily basis
• Craves alcohol
• Hiding their constant drinking
• Getting “black out drunk” – this is a state wherein the person appears to be just drunk, but they don’t remember what they did at all once they become sober
• Having “secret stashes” of alcohol
• Drinking just to cope with life
• Experiences withdrawal symptoms like tremors, illness, headaches, depression, mood swings, and more when stops drinking
• Encountering health problems due to drinking
• Changes habits or hobbies in order to have more time to drink
• Loses their job or begins to fail in classes because of their drinking
• Experiences tolerance – meaning they need a large amount of alcohol to get drunk 

  

Surprisingly, since the body builds up a tolerance to alcohol, as it does with many drugs, an alcoholic may need more alcohol to produce the desired effect. Thus boasting of one’s ability to “hold his liquor” may, in fact, be a sign of alcohol abuse.

If you or someone you know are experiencing any of the above symptoms, or you believe you are an alcoholic, contact us today at (877) 850-7355.  We have the best success rate you will find anywhere.

Refs:

Niaa.nih.gov, Drugabuse.gov, CDC.gov, Forcon.ca, Alsa.org, RXlist.com, Forbes.com