Alcohol mental effects

The term alcoholism as a disease entity was coined by the Swedish physician, Magnus Huss, in the mid-19th century to describe the harmful physical and mental effects of chronic excessive alcohol consumption. This strictly medical model held sway for almost a century before it became apparent that a variety of psychosocial factors also influence the onset and course of the disorder. Indeed, drinking behavior and the problems attributable to excessive drinking, including alcoholism, vary widely within and across different cultures and population groups, and even within the same person across the fife span. In the last 30 years, basic and... 

Alcohol acts as a depressant on the brain. Blood carries alcohol to the brain, where it acts on the body s central nervous system to slow a person s mental responses. There are a variety of mental effects associated with alcohol consumption. The more immediate are a lessening of inhibitions, mental relaxation, exaggerated emotional response to people and situations, extreme changes in behavior, and impaired judgment. Low doses of alcohol can cause the release of certain chemicals in the brain that can cause a sense of euphoria—a high that makes alcohol seem like a stimulant. Memory is sharpened and the ability to think creatively is strengthened, but when alcohol consumption increases, its seda-... 

Because mescaline lodges for the most part in the liver, some concern has been expressed about its use by those with liver ailments. It is worth noting that during the 1950s and 1960s this drug was given to a number of alcoholic mental patients, many of whom had severely diseased livers, with little untoward effect. 

From alcohol and methamphetamine to Prozac, Valium, lithium, and Zyprexa, psychoactive substances disguise their adverse mental effects for the user. A person grossly mentally impaired by stimulants, benzodiazepine tranquilizers, mood stabilizers, or neuroleptics is likely to have little idea about how dysfunctional he or she has become. When the individual does perceive a change in himself or herself, positive or negative, it is almost never attributed to the causative agent the drug. If the individual feels euphoric, it is attributed to good fortune and especially... 

Ettema JH, Zielhuis RL, Burer E, et al. 1975. Effects of alcohol, carbon monoxide and trichloroethylene on mental capacity. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 35 117-132. 

Hasenfratz, M., Bunge, A., Dal-Pra, G., Battig, K., Antagonistic effects of caffeine and alcohol on mental performance parameters. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 46(2), 463-465, 1993. 

The side effects of barbiturates include sedation, poor physical coordination, and impaired mental performance. They also potentiate the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Barbiturates can be extremely dangerous in overdose, causing anesthesia, coma, and even death. In addition, barbiturates can cause dangerous suppression of breathing in patients with sleep apnea or other respiratory disorders. With repeated use over just a few weeks, physical dependence and tolerance to their effects can develop, leading to increasing doses to maintain the desired therapeutic effect. If a... 

A great many physical and mental disorders develop because of a malfunction in the nervous system. Some examples are Alzheimer s disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson s disease, Huntington s chorea, and bipolar disorder. Most of the effects produced by recreational drugs, such as alcohol, heroin, and cocaine, are also a result of changes in the way the nervous system functions. Today, scientists have a reasonably good understanding of the way in which the nervous system operates and how many types of chemicals affect this operation. 

Kava should not be used with alcohol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates or other sedatives because of their additive effects. In one case, coma resulted from mixing alprazolam and kava. Patients have complained that kava, while relaxing the body, may be less effective for mental anxiety with obsessive or racing thoughts than are the benzodiazepines. 

The precise incidence of alcoholism in the elderly remains unknown, but retired and recently widowed men seem to be at higher risk ( 392). Physicians and family members often overlook the effects of alcohol on an elderly person s physical and psychological health and may mistake this problem for an organic mental disorder. 

In the elderly, preexisting organic mental disorders, a decreased volume of distribution, and the concurrent use of other medication may potentiate the effects of alcohol on cognition, affect, and behavior (see The Elderly Patient earlier in this chapter). 

Nowhere are the effects of the permeability of the placental membrane more graphic than in the incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in the children of alcoholic mothers. FAS produces distinctive anatomical features and mental retardation. Ethanol is called a teratogen because it causes genetic malfunction. Recall that thalidomide was a teratogen. 

There is no evidence of any -weight regarding the mental and moral injuries from the moderate use of these drugs. Moderation does not lead to excess in hemp any more than it does in alcohol. Regular, moderate use of ganja or bhang [forms of marijuana] produces the same effects as moderate and regular doses of whiskey. ... 

In addition to their use as pharmacological tools, selective 8 opioid antagonists may have clinical potential in the treatment of a variety of disorders where endogenous opioids play a modulatory role, e.g. disorders of food intake, shock, constipation, mental disorders, CNS injury, alcoholism, drug addiction and immune function (Spetea et al., 2001). It is also worth mentioning that 8 antagonists have been shown to possess an antitussive effects in rodents, thus indicating another possible clinical application for these compounds (Kamei et al., 1994). 

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