Drinking alcohol clearly has important effect on social behaviors, such as increasing aggression, self-disclosure, sexual adventuresomeness, and so on. Research has shown that these effects can stem from beliefs we hold about alcohol effects. Less is known about how alcohol itself affects these behaviors.
Social Factors
Your culture, religion, family and work influence many of your behaviors, including drinking. Family plays the biggest role in a person's likelihood of developing alcoholism. Children who are exposed to alcohol abuse from an early age are more at risk of falling into a dangerous drinking pattern.
Other long-term consequences of alcohol abuse include social problems, issues with learning and memory, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Overall, alcohol has a negative effect on mental and emotional health, even if it temporarily numbs emotions or creates feelings of euphoria.
Alcoholics and alcohol abusers are much more likely to get divorced, have problems with domestic violence, struggle with unemployment, and live in poverty.
A few of the more dangerous societal effects of alcoholism include increased injuries to self, aggression against others, violent crimes, child abuse, spouse abuse and traffic fatalities.
Addiction can have a damaging effect on entire families, which can impact many generations. When a member of a family is suffering from alcoholism, those closest to them can find that they have to contend with financial problems, strained relationships, and harm to their own health and wellbeing.
Some of the most common effects of heavy drinking on everyday life include: Strained relationships with partners or loved ones. Long-term damage to relationships with children. The development of emotional or psychological problems.
Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory: Clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Some of these impairments are detectable after only one or two drinks and quickly resolve when drinking stops.
Alcohol abuse can cause signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and antisocial behavior, both during intoxication and during withdrawal. At times, these symptoms and signs cluster, last for weeks, and mimic frank psychiatric disorders (i.e., are alcohol–induced syndromes).
A number of social and cultural factors predict increased alcohol use, including discrimination and its related stigma. The role of discrimination and stress in health-related risk behaviors, including alcohol use, is well established (Dawson et al. 2005; Hatzenbuehler 2009; Paradies 2006).
The social drinking definition is someone who regularly drinks alcohol in a variety of social settings. However, drinking doesn't disrupt their life or create serious physical, mental or personal problems. Problem drinking goes a considerable step beyond this.
Alcohol is an intrinsic part of Australian culture and it plays a central role in most people's social lives. Heavy drinking is seen as acceptable in almost all social situations, from weddings to sports matches, and even at funerals or baby showers.
The Effects of Alcohol on Behavior
Slurred speech, motor impairment, confusion and memory problems are just a few common consequences of alcohol consumption in the short term.
In turns out that while consuming alcohol might affect our empathy, making us respond inappropriately to other people's emotions and reactions, this doesn't necessarily change our moral standards, or the principles we use to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.
High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum. Weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick. Learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor school performance.
The dangers associated with binge drinking include increased risk of drunk driving, violent behavior, being a victim of sexual assault, transmitted diseases, and long-term alcohol addiction. Adding to the concerns are studies providing scientific evidence that alcohol significantly impairs learning and memory in teens.
One model proposes that negative emotions (e.g., anxiety or depression), the expectation that alcohol will relieve these feelings, and coping styles characterized by avoiding rather than confronting life issues all may increase a person's motivation to drink in order to cope with stress.
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).
The psychological effects of this alcohol tolerance and dependency may cause the sufferer to become withdrawn and less supportive of colleagues, friends and family members.
School problems, such as higher rates of absences or lower grades. Social problems, such as fighting or lack of participation in youth activities. Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk. Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses.
Alcoholism is linked to codependency in relationships as well as abusive behavior both verbally and physically. Deterioration in married or unmarried couples often stems from arguments, financial troubles, and acts of infidelity or, worse, domestic violence.
Alcohol is Associated with Injury, Violence, and Other Harms
Men have higher rates of alcohol-related hospitalizations than women. More than three-quarters of deaths from excessive drinking are among males, totaling more than 97,000 deaths each year in the U.S.
Neopagan and Wiccan religions also allow for the use of alcohol for ritual purposes as well as for recreation.