Monthly Archives: November 2007

Types of Drinkers

There are typically four different types of drinkers. All of which have very distinct drinking habits that you should be aware of; either for yourself, or loved ones. Toward the end of this article, you should be able to accurately determine whether or not you or a loved one is a health drinker, social drinker or responsible drinker, problem drinker or irresponsible drinker or an alcoholic. We’ve added two more to our list because of the growing trend and concern for these types of drinkers: Under Age drinkers and Binge Drinkers.

The Health Drinker:

The health drinkers are the types of drinkers that drink alcohol for health-related reasons or to give them a deeper sense of peace.

  • They often drink wines.
  • Red wine has antioxidants.
  • Red wine has also been linked with heart health.
  • They drink sparingly.
  • They drink before bed to relax.

The Social or Responsible Drinker:

The responsible drinker is the type of drinker who will drink slowly, and only on special occasions that call for a little more relaxation among friends or colleagues.

Social drinkers do not allow the alcohol to control them.

  • They never drink and drive.
  • They drink slowly, and enjoy the company.
  • They tend to treat alcohol as an addition to a meal, not the meal itself.
  • They are not dependant on the drink.
  • They drink with nondrinkers around to help them stay accountable.

The Problem or Irresponsible Drinker:

The irresponsible drinker is the absolute opposite of the social drinker. These types of drinkers will often head for the bar for the buzz, and not for the social aspect of drinking. Problem drinkers get loud and brazen.

  • They’ll become impaired and unable to drive.
  • They can become angry.
  • This drinker can have lower productivity ratings.
  • They can also lose their memory of the previous drinking night.

The Under-aged Drinker:

A form of the irresponsible drinker is the under aged drinker. When drinking is done by an under aged person, there are several risks involved.

  • A young person’s body is not meant for alcohol and may not be able to handle the side effects.
  • A younger person already has less mature judgment, and it can become worse with alcohol.
  • It is illegal and can result in legal action such as probation or jail time if caught.
  • It’s dangerous.

The Alcoholic:

Alcoholics have lost all control of their drinking habits. Since the drink has become a drug, or a medication to pain, it can become highly addictive.

  • These types of drinkers find it hard to cope with their problems without a drink.
  • They are dependent, and will regularly seek excessive amounts of alcohol at once.
  • They tend to gain weight around the mid-section.
  • Some tend to lose jobs, or at least can’t keep jobs.
  • They will drink very strong drinks.

The Binge Drinker:

Another type of drinker out there is the binge drinker. Binge drinkers will often go extended periods of time without drinking followed by periods of extreme drinking. A person may believe he or she deserves to drink a massive amount of alcohol because they’ve not drank for a while, a binge drinker is a serious risk to him or herself.

  • Binge drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning.
  • Binging can cause uncontrollable mood swings.
  • Binging is very expensive.
  • Binging is addictive.
  • Binge drinking can be fatal since alcohol poisoning can lead to death.
  • Binge drinking can lead to alcoholism.

Conclusion:

What types of drinker are you and your friends? Do you all have social drinking habits, or problem drinking habits? Always be careful when drinking alcohol. Make sure it does not become a crutch or addiction. Once it becomes an addiction, alcohol can run your life, and it is very difficult to quit drinking and straighten out your life. There is more to your life than allowing a drink to make decisions for you and rob you of the valuable time you have on earth.

Effects of Alcohol

,,

Alcohol is one of the worlds most used social lubricants, but also one of the most lethal substances on this planet. I hope to, with this information, show you how alcohol effects the brain (the actual organ), what alcohol is, why it effects you and how to spot an addiction to alcohol, as well as how alcohol effects decision making.

There are a lot of things happen to the actual brain (the organ) when one has a drink of alcohol. What I’ll be writing now is how alcohol effects the brain when it enters the blood stream and as you’ll see, this has a large role in how alcohol effects decision making in the long run. I hope also show you the mental harm (as well as lethal outcomes) that an alcohol addiction can cause.

Now, I want to write on how alcohol effects the brain. The first part of your brain to be effected by alcohol is the frontal lobe. At a .05% alcohol level in your blood, your frontal lobe is effected. The frontal lobe is responsible for judgment and reasoning (which I’ll get to in a little bit). At .1 – .15%, the alcohol travels to your midbrain, where muscle coordination, vision, and speech are controlled. An alcoholic who drinks to this point tends to sway, slur their speech, and has very bad visual coordination (do not drive at all). After this point, the alcohol moves toward your Pons and Medulla Oblongota (two parts in the center part of your brain) where your respiratory system and cardiac system are effected. Hopefully, by this time, your body has shut down and you pass out before the alcohol becomes a lethal poison in your body.

It’s important that you know what you are putting into your body and why alcohol does what it does. Understanding this aids in your knowledge of how alcohol effects decision making, and the amount of alcohol you will allow into your body from this point forward.

Alcohol is a narcotic. A narcotic can be defined as a drug that dulls or depresses the senses. Narcotics such as alcohol can be very prone to addiction, especially if they are legal after a certain age. Like all narcotics, alcohol deadens pain and relieves anxiety. This is another reason it can be an addiction before you even know it. There are many ways you can find out if you have an addiction to alcohol. The best way to find out is by noting if you can cope with problems without the use of alcohol. If you cannot, it is a serious issue, and you might need to seek help before you become a serious alcoholic. Becoming an alcoholic has serious repercussions in how alcohol effects decision making as well as your brain health.

The judgment of an alcoholic is severely distorted by their addiction, as well as the alcohol itself deadening and depressing the nerves inside of the brain. This leads me into my last point, which is how alcohol effects judgment.

So do you want to know how alcohol effects decision making? Take for example those hidden urges that you have to suppress. Every single person has them. What allows you to stop yourself from acting upon these otherwise socially unacceptable, yet natural urges are called “inhibitory nerves.” Since alcohol is a depressant, these nerves are depressed, allowing you to appear more brave, when all you are is acting on urges that are already there. This is not safe when you decide to drive, or your friends dare you to do something. Since alcohol also inhibits the sympathetic nervous system. This nervous system gives you the “fight or flight” sense, which would normally cause you to become more cautious of a situation.

What I have just given you is information on how alcohol effects decision making, mental awareness and reason, as well as what alcohol is as a drug, and how to spot an alcoholic addiction. If you have a chemical in your body that inhibits the nerves that help you suppress the dormant urges that you have, and you begin to lose your judgment because your frontal lobe (where reason lives), do you think that you’re going to make great decisions? I would venture to say “No.” And that is how alcohol effects decision making.