Alcohol
abuse remains a significant concern globally due to its detrimental impact on
health. This article delves into the life expectancy of individuals engaging in
alcohol abuse and the various factors influencing this prognosis.
Alcohol abuse as a drinking
pattern leads to harmful consequences that impact physical and mental health.
It is often characterized by an inability to control or limit in it
consumption. The causes of alcohol abuse are multifaceted, encompassing
genetic, environmental, and social factors.
Effects
on Health
The effects of alcohol
abuse on health are profound and far-reaching. It contributes to various health
conditions, ranging from liver diseases, cardiovascular issues, neurological
impairments, to mental health disorders.
Factors
Influencing Life Expectancy
Health
Conditions Caused by Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol abuse
significantly increases the risk of developing severe health conditions,
including liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, heart diseases, and certain cancers.
These conditions drastically reduce life expectancy.
Lifestyle
and Habits
Beyond specific health
conditions, the lifestyle associated with alcohol abuse, including poor
nutrition, lack of exercise, and risky behaviors, also contributes to a
decreased life expectancy.
Alcohol and mental health
While the effects of
alcohol can sometimes have a short term positive impact on our mood, in the
long term it can cause problems for mental health. Drinking alcohol is linked
to a range of mental health issues from depression and memory loss, to suicide.
What
are the mental effects of alcohol?
Regular, heavy drinking
interferes with chemicals in the brain that are vital for good mental health.
So while we might feel relaxed after a drink, in the long run alcohol has an impact
on mental health and can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety, and
make stress harder to deal with.
How
alcohol affects our brain chemistry
The brain relies on a
delicate balance of chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means
it can disrupt that balance, affecting our thoughts, feelings and actions – and
sometimes our long-term mental health. This is partly down to
neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that help to transmit signals from one
nerve (or neuron) in the brain to another.
For example, the
relaxed feeling we can experience if we have a drink is due to the chemical
changes alcohol has caused in the brain. A drink can make some people feel more
confident and less anxious, as the alcohol begins to suppress the part of the
brain associated with inhibition.
As we drink more, the
impact on our brain function increases. And regardless of the mood we’re in,
with increasing alcohol consumption, it’s possible that negative emotions will
take over, leading to a negative impact on mental health. Alcohol can be linked
to aggression and some people report becoming angry, aggressive, anxious or
depressed when they drink.
Alcohol
and anxiety
For someone
experiencing anxiety, a drink might help them feel more at ease, but this
feeling is short-lived. The so-called ‘relaxed’ feeling somebody may say they
experience after having a drink is due to the chemical changes alcohol causes
in the brain. But these effects wear off fast. Relying on alcohol to mask
anxiety could also lead to a greater reliance on it to relax. A likely
side-effect of this is the increased risk of building up a tolerance to
alcohol. Over time you will need to drink more alcohol to get the same feeling.
And, in the medium to longer term, this pattern often leads to alcohol dependence.
As we process alcohol,
we can begin to experience psychological symptoms, such as feeling depressed,
anxious or agitated.
Feelings of anxiety can
happen with a hangover, too. For some, these feelings are barely noticeable.
But if anxiety is already an issue, the hangover effect can make those symptoms
worse.
Drinking alcohol can
also make a person feel more anxious in certain situations. When we drink, we
don’t always respond to all the cues around us. If we’re prone to anxiety and
notice something that could be interpreted as threatening in the environment,
there is a tendency to focus on that and miss the other less threatening - or
neutral - information.
To reduce stress or
anxiety without alcohol, try exercise or relaxation methods, such as meditation
or yoga. Or try breathing techniques when you feel worried or anxious. Talking
to somebody you know about how you’re feeling is also a positive thing to do.
Drinking
& depression: a vicious cycle
Drinking heavily and
regularly is associated with symptoms of depression, although it can be
difficult to separate cause and effect. This means it’s not always clear
whether drinking alcohol causes a person to experience symptoms of depression.
What we do know is that alcohol affects several nerve-chemical systems within
our bodies which are important in regulating our mood.2 Studies show that
depression can follow on from heavy drinking.3 And that reducing or stopping
drinking can improve mood.4,5,6,7,8
Medications prescribed
for depression should not be mixed with alcohol.9 Some commonly prescribed
anti-depressants tend to increase the risk of relapse to heavy drinking in
people who are trying to cut down or abstain from alcohol, so antidepressants
should be only taken with great caution and only when prescribed by your
doctor.
Alcohol
is linked to suicide, self-harm and psychosis
Alcohol can cause
people to lose their inhibitions and behave impulsively, so it can lead to
actions they might not otherwise have taken – including self-harm and even
suicide. There is a strong association between drinking heavily (either chronic
or acute alcohol misuse) and suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and death
from suicide.
Extreme levels of
drinking (such as drinking more than 30 units per day for several weeks) can
occasionally cause psychosis, which is a severe mental illness where
hallucinations and delusions – of persecution, for example – occur. Psychoses
can be caused by both acute intoxication and withdrawal, and can be more common
in cases when drinkers who are dependent on alcohol suddenly stop drinking.
Staying
in control
The UK’s Chief Medical
Officers advise that, in order to keep the health risks from alcohol to a low
level, men and women should not regularly drink more than 14 units a week. 14
units is equivalent to six pints of average strength beer or six medium (175ml)
glasses of average strength wine.
If you regularly drink
as much as this, it’s safest to spread your drinking evenly over three or more
days. The risk of developing a range of serious mental and physical health
problems increases the more you drink on a regular basis.
A good way to cut down the amount you drink is to have several drink-free days each week. And avoid binge drinking.
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