Conclusions. We found that lower results on IQ tests are associated with higher consumption of alcohol measured in terms of both total alcohol intake and binge drinking in Swedish adolescent men.
Results. Individuals with alcohol‐related hospital diagnoses (8%) had a significantly lower baseline IQ score (95.0 vs. 100.5, p < 0.001) and a larger decline in IQ scores from baseline to follow‐up (−8.5 vs. −4.8, p < 0.001) than individuals without such diagnoses.
Cognitive ability has been found to be associated with several health-related behaviors, such as smoking, food intake, and physical activity.” Previous studies have also linked binge drinking to lower IQ. However, in that study, people with higher IQs had higher levels of average alcohol consumption.
There is a strong association between antisocial personality disorder and alcoholism. Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of regard for laws and authority. People who have antisocial personality disorder engage in dangerous behaviors, lack guilt and display low impulse control.
Other Common Alcoholic Personality Traits
Others will be irritable, anxious, and aggressive both when they drink and when they go through alcohol withdrawal. Alcohol dependence can also make a person impatient and easily aggravated. Additionally, you might notice impulsiveness or other erratic traits.
Additional Alcoholic Personality Traits
Often someone who is abusing alcohol will also display the following signs and become: Insecure. Sensitive. Impulsive.
Alcohol and Narcissism
This can fuel the feelings of self-importance in someone with narcissism. Someone with narcissism may use alcohol to cope with their personal problems. They may drink alone to conceal their insecurity from the rest of the world. Both conditions may cause someone to engage in similar behaviors.
People who are seeking addiction treatment often describe themselves as nonconformists. They consider themselves as fundamentally different from their peers due to their interests, values, and goals.
One of the first areas affected as intoxication develops is the frontal cortex–leading to loss of judgement. Unsteady gait: the cerebellum, located underneath in the back of the brain, controls balance and coordination.
The new research shows that it takes at least two weeks for the brain to start returning to normal, so this is the point at which the alcohol recovery timeline begins. Until the brain has recovered, it is less able to suppress the urge to drink. This is because the alcohol has impaired the brain's cognitive ability.
Modern intelligence tests often focus on abilities such as mathematical skills, memory, spatial perception, and language abilities. The capacity to see relationships, solve problems, and remember information are important components of intelligence, so these are often the skills on which IQ tests focus.
Brains of alcoholics resemble brains of chronologically old nonalcoholics. This may occur at the onset of problem drinking (“accelerated aging”) or later in life when brains are more vulnerable (“increased vulnerability” or “cumulative effects”). Alcoholism affects women more than men.
This is known as alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) or alcohol-related brain injury (ARBI). Some people with ARBD will only have small changes to their thinking and memory, known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). They are at risk of more serious brain damage unless they stop drinking.
Individuals with alcohol use disorder appear to show deficits in empathy compared with healthy controls. Deficits are particularly pronounced for older individuals and for cognitive (versus affective) empathy.
Narcissists are quick to blame others for making them act as they do. Alcoholics have plenty of excuses for why they drink. Narcissists almost never apologize or promise to change their ways. That would feel like weakness, which is anathema to narcissists, sullying the image they desperately seek to cultivate.
Giving up on an alcoholic spouse is justified when you've tried everything to help them, and they aren't willing to commit, or when you can't take care of yourself or your family anymore. If you and your children are at risk or exposed to uncontrollable, unpredictable behavior, it's time to leave.
Alcohol dependent persons rarely present secure connection to others and more often manifest mistrust in interpersonal relationships and avoid closeness and intimacy.
There are many mental health conditions that can co-occur with alcohol abuse. Some of the most common conditions include depression, bipolar disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Generally, people drink to either increase positive emotions or decrease negative ones. This results in all drinking motives falling into one of four categories: enhancement (because it's exciting), coping (to forget about my worries), social (to celebrate), and conformity (to fit in).
Narcissistic parents are often emotionally abusive to their children, holding them to impossible and constantly changing expectations. Those with narcissistic personality disorder are highly sensitive and defensive. They tend to lack self-awareness and empathy for other people, including their own children.
Warning Signs Of An Aging Narcissist
Become more reclusive and only want to spend time with people they feel are worthy of their attention. May lose interest in the people around them altogether. May find that they are no longer able to tolerate the imperfections of others and may lash out in anger or frustration.
Direct Effects of Alcohol.
Alcohol may encourage aggression or violence by disrupting normal brain function. According to the disinhibition hypothesis, for example, alcohol weakens brain mechanisms that normally restrain impulsive behaviors, including inappropriate aggression (5).