Alcohol use is something that is becoming more and more common in underage young adults, especially college students. Even so, many adults over the age of 21 participate in binge drinking. Binge drinking consists of drinking multiple drinks at one time. This results in what is commonly known as a “blackout”. So how does drinking and alcohol use effect everyday mental performance? There are so many different things that alcohol can cause. When the mind is impaired with something such as alcohol, the decision-making skills of the person in taking the alcohol are going to be impaired as well. Alcohol is a key factor in many different tragedies. Alcohol can be linked with things like death, injury, physical assault, sexual assault, unsafe sex, …show more content…
College students are at a higher risk of alcohol use than any other age group. Under age and college age drinkers are at more of a risk for neurotoxicity and harmful mental effects due to alcohol consumption than those who initiate alcohol use later in life. The brain functions though things such as neurotransmitter receptors, and cell signaling molecules. These are effected when alcohol is ingested. (Zeigler, 2004) Alcohol blackouts are becoming more and more common when binge drinking occurs. A blackout is when excessive drinking leads to a from of memory impairment or loss. What happens is a kind of amnesia occurs. The brain cannot recall any memories or events that have occurred. One might think that blackouts and passing out are the same thing, but they are not. A blackout is when someone is awake and able to function even though they are under the influence. (White, 2005) Some cases of extreme alcohol use an alcohol overdose is possible. An alcohol overdose is the next step after a black out. Like a blackout, an alcohol overdose occurs during something like binge drinking. “Alcohol can cause death directly by suppressing brain stem nuclei that control vital reflexes like breathing and gagging to clear the airway.” (White,
Often, the alcohol will bring out a violent temper and often, alcoholics abuse, physically and mentally, their friends and family. Drinking makes the drinker feel he is more confident. The drinker thinks he is in control, even if a little high, and he might get behind the wheel of his car and go for a drive. Drunk driving is deadly. Hundreds of thousands of people get killed every year due to drunk driving.(Castro 60) Other physical effects of drinking are vomiting, passing out and sometimes, if enough alcohol is consumed over a long enough period of time, or if mixed with other drugs, death.
This pattern often encourages people to drink more to keep the buzz going." ( Net Biz Mentor ). When people get like that they usually get a little bolder and want to do normal tasks and routines like driving a motorized vehicle. The effects of alcohol result in poor coordination, slurred speech, double vision, decrease of self-control, lost of consciousness and maybe even death.
Over a long time binge drinking can damage the liver and other organs. Car crashes, drunk driving arrests, sexual assaults, and injuries. For many their goal is to black out. Blacking out is when you just shut down into a hard sleep and can’t remember anything. Drinking too much alcohol can make you have alcohol poison and get really sick. You may even die or suffer health problems for the rest of your life.
Alcohol can also leave many physical effects on a person's body. Zailckas described her first ever blackout by receiving details from her friends and parents because she herself could not remember. “I passed out on the dock in a puddle of my own vomit” (Zailckas 92). Passing out in your vomit is a common effect of alcohol abuse and has led to many people suffocating and dying. She explained how she woke up in a hospital bed with bruises all over from her also drunken friends dropping her while trying to carry her lifeless body. Being as though the people that she was with were also intoxicated, her situation was worsened and more damage was done.
There are consequences that go hand-in-hand with alcohol abuse. For underage drinkers, normal brain development is affected, the risk of developing AUD intensifies, and there are more incidents of sexual assault, accidents, and death. For college-age students, consequences include alcohol-related unintentional injuries, primarily automobile accidents. This group also experiences a higher number of physical assaults, sexual assaults, and declining academics.
Alcohol impairs judgment, memory, concentration and coordination, as well as inducing extreme mood swings and emotional
Alcohol is a liquid substance that can which when consumed slows down the brain. It also alters the brain to increase the risk of depression and anxiety. When too much alcohol is consumed it can cause memory loss.
Previous research in this field has led to the determination that the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages leads to an increased level of high-risk behavior among adolescents and young adults. Some of these high-risk behaviors include driving while intoxicated, unprotected sexual activity, and illegal substance abuse. In addition, heavy binge drinking is widely accepted as contributing to “neurocognitive deficits” and increased “morbidity and mortality.” Much of the previous research has focused on college-aged young adults. This study hopes to greatly shed light on the age group from 13 to 17 years old (pre-collegiate adolescents). In addition, the study hopes to
Drinking can cause a person to have a complete personality change and become violent or hostile after drinking. They may also become irritable or panicky during times when a drink is expected. An alcoholic may drink to the point of black out; this is where they don’t remember what they’ve done or said that happened during a bout of drinking. A definite red flag for alcoholism is when a person has to have to drink in the morning when they first wake up.
That scenario shows only a few of the side effects alcohol can cause to a person. Alcohol creates a disruption regarding the connection of the brain. The brain controls physical and psychological actions. Many people do not think about the possible outcomes that alcohol can cause to themselves. Most american’s drink occasionally and some frequently.
People who drink are more than likely to have poor Academics. There is a clear relationship between alcohol use and academic performance among college students (Pediatrics 1). Students with grades of D or F drink 3 times as much as those who earn A’s …the effects on less mature individuals may be even more significant (Pediatrics 2). Poor academics can lend to students dropping out of school . Heavy drinking in high school also is associated with multiple interpersonal , academic, legal and neurocognitive consequences (Doumas 1). Poor academics can cause changes in behavior
A lower dosage of alcohol will damage a young brain compared to a fully mature brain, and young brains are damaged more quickly. Alcohol exposure during adolescence is linked with a reduced ability to learn compared with those not exposed until adulthood.Alcohol is implicated in more than 40 percent of all college academic problems and 28 percent of all college dropouts. At both 2- and 4-year colleges, the heaviest drinkers make the lowest grades.High school students who use alcohol or other
Alcohol is a substance that has numerous diverse affects on the body-both positive and negative. Alcohol not only kills brain cells, but when taken in profusion it has almost no constructive affects. Sure it can make one overlook his/her problems, but the consequences of drinking in excess far outweigh the benefits. It is not a crime to get drunk, however alcohol will almost always cause one to conduct them self in a way he or she would not normally behave. For instance, a sober man will not usually drive ninety-five mph down I-95, however, after consuming a good amount of alcohol, his eyesight, judgement, reflexes and abilities are hindered to the point that he feels
Alcohol dependence is known to be the most severe form of alcohol abuse. A person becomes so dependent on alcohol consumption that he/she loses sight of all the other important things going on around him/her. Family matters and social responsibilities become secondary worries to his/her primary concern for existence, which is drinking (Stephens, 2007). Nearly fourteen million Americans are somewhat dependent on alcohol. Alcohol dependence is more prominent in men, and young adults ages 18-29 (Stephens, 2007). According to a study done by Saitz “85,000 deaths, along with substantial disability from medical and psychiatric consequences, injuries and “secondhand” effects (ex: motor vehicle crashes) are attributed to the use of alcohol” (Saitz, 2005).
Many people could tell you what alcohol will do to you. Blurred vision, memory loss, slurred speech, difficulty walking, and slow reaction times are all very common side effects depending on how much one consumes (National