Dr. Huston
English 1301-4002
March 30th, 2012
Drugs and Alcohol abuse
One of the issues people face is today's day is alcohol overdose . Statistics show that millions of people die of drug abuse and alcohol annually. Also, this statistic includes the use of alcohol. This staggering rate requires that people better understand the many effects of alcohol.
Alcohol is a very poor drug to reduce a person's anxiety or depression. Anxiety and depression are caused by an inappropriate response to life events. What people do not know is alcohol affects the brain and body in a variety of ways-all the physical and mental health issues associated with smoking. Alcohol causes contraction of brain tissue after long-terms. Alcohol is a very dangerous drug, because people can overdose in alcohol. One of the physical issues people expose themselves is they could die from suffocation of their own vomit, or alcohol can shut down the brain areas that control breathing. Some research shows alcohol can cause “permanent problems with nervous system function” (Erickson, Carlton K. 121). People who drink heavily have memory loss, confusion, disorientation, and problems with feelings and sensations with hands and feet. Regarding glucose, alcohol interferes with “gluconeogenesis” as well with insulin, and may cause pancreatic damage (Erickson, Carlton K. 126) “Disinhibition” is an secondary effect produced by alcohol (Erickson, Carlton K.121). Actually, it causes depression on the nervous system. In fact, the cortex is a thinking and small portion of the brain. When the cortex is depressed by alcohol, the brain starts to speeds up. One of the questions the people ask themselves is, Does alcohol kill brain cells? Which the answer is yes, but only when large quantities have been consumed over many years. Many people suffer from “Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome” (Erickson, Carlton K. 122). Which symptoms are amnesia, confusion and dementia. However, social drinking does not kill brain cells. As a result, the effects are totally reversible. Scientists thought alcohol “melted the nerve membrane in a reversible way”, but in today's day scientists believe alcohol has affinity for certain receptors for chemicals in the brain (Erickson, Carlton K.122).
Alcohol could affect in socially and personally behaviors. Alcohol encourages insecurity in individuals especially in teenagers. Bad influences could lead teenagers falling into temptation, or they just want to try out new things by showing insecurity. As a result, teenagers could end up following the crowd and breaking their lives apart. People often say that drinking socially is the best way to drink alcohol, which there is no such thing as social drinking. Research show that “one-third” out of high school students have had more than five drinks in the past two weeks” (Erickson, Carlton K. 217). Some teenagers may have grown up in a dysfunctional family, and they try to get away. Whether their parents do not care about them, or they have been victims of child abuse. Therefore, they think it is pointless to go to school and overcome the problem. Even though teenagers usually want to get out of that environment, they usually try to find the easy way out. However, they do not have the support from their elders or family. As a result, they fall into the influence of school in order to find refuge in it. In some cases, a man or woman could fall into the addiction of alcohol. After days go by, he or she start liking it too much that all of the sudden they cannot control it. Families begin to worry about their siblings. People think the alcoholic is the one who suffers the most, but actually the ones who suffer the most are their families siblings. As a result, families start falling apart due to the behavior of the person. He or she start acting up and rebellious. In fact, their personal behavior starts to change among