Substance Abuse: Alcohol

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Alcohol is a depressant drug which affects the nervous system. It is a legal substance, and so is socially-acceptable (in certain circumstances).

Mode of action:

Alcohol serves to make GABA more effective, meaning that it makes it more difficult for messages to be transmitted. It also reduces the effectiveness of the inhibitory mechanisms that ensure we behave in a way that is socially-acceptable and anaesthetises nerve endings at noradrenalin synapses so they become less effective. Noradrenalin synapses trigger the fight-flight mechanism.

Alcohol does not just prevent the improvement of the reflexes that these synapses would bring, it also slows the reflexes because of the increased effectiveness of the GABA system.

 Effects:

Short-Term Effects:

  • Dilated skin blood vessels – users feel warm and flushed
  • Reactions slow down – higher levels of perceptions and speech are affected (linked to increase in GABA)
  • Reduces inhibitions – targets the social control areas of the brain
  • Relaxation
  • Confidence
  • Dehydration

Long-Term Effects:

  • Damage to organs, including heart, liver, pancreas, the brain and the nervous system
  • Increase in blood pressure and cholesterol levels
  • Strokes
  • Cancer (i.e. liver cancer)
  • Depression
  • Liver disease

Tolerance:

Alcohol affects behaviour rapidly, and just a small amount produces measurable effects. However, short-term tolerance also develops quickly, so that, as blood alcohol level drops, the individual feels sober before they actually are.

Alcohol consumption stimulates the body to produce an enzyme that breaks alcohol down more quickly – in just a few weeks, a drinker will need to consume about 50% more alcohol to achieve the same effect.

 

Physical Dependence:

  • Irritability
  • Shaking
  • Inability to restrict intake – may end up drinking until they pass out
  • Sweating
  • Nausea
  • Visual hallucinations

Psychological Dependence:

  • The individual may place drinking above other activities in their life (i.e. personal hygiene)
  • Access to alcohol becomes a ‘coping strategy’
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Insomnia
  • Restlessness
  • Irritability

Withdrawal:

Withdrawal symptoms depend largely on the level of use and addiction. They are influenced by two factors peculiar to alcohol. Firstly, habituation to the level of alcohol is extremely fast both psychologically and physiologically within a drinking bout. Secondly, following a drinking bout, the feeling of sobering occurs much more quickly than the actual physiological process.

Symptoms include:

  • Agitation
  • Uncontrollable shaking
  • Cramp
  • Nausea
  • Sweating
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Vivid dreaming

Symptoms usually occur 8 – 12 hours after the last drink. These can last up to 48 hours.

Sources:

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