Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse

About Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse occurs from a person’s behaviors and mentality behind their drinking. If a person is experiencing negative consequences from their drinking, whether short or long term, then they are abusing alcohol.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol abuse is where a person advances to a pattern of drinking that is causing harm to their relationships and health as well as harm to their ability to work.

Alcohol abuse can lead to long-term organ damage.

Alcohol abuse is extremely common in America, and alcohol abuse can lead to alcohol addiction. Underage alcohol abuse results in thousands of deaths every year, and alcohol related accidents are the third leading cause of death in America. Although most people drink voluntarily for the first time, alcohol abuse commonly leads to alcohol addiction if a person continues to abuse the substance. Alcohol addiction is one of the hardest addictions for a person to overcome and the withdrawals can be extremely painful for a person to go through.

Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse poses numerous health risks to a person, even if this is their first time abusing alcohol. Alcohol is a drug that is extremely easy for people to abuse since it is legal, and it is a drug that will negatively affect a person mentally, physically and behaviorally. When a person abuses alcohol their judgment will become impaired which can lead to them making poor decisions that will later on negatively impact their physical and mental health. For example, a person abusing alcohol may decide to have unprotected sex with a stranger and contract a STD, or a person abusing alcohol may decide to start a fight with someone and end up being arrested.

Long term alcohol abuse can lead to a person having permanent damage to their organs and to their mental health.

According to the US Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, long term abuse of alcohol can permanently damage a person’s brain cells, which can lead to them having irrational behavior and can damage their memory and thinking. Furthermore, prolonged alcohol abuse can lead to permanent nerve damage in a person’s body as well as heart and liver failure, which are both fatal.

Short term alcohol abuse can lead to a person blacking out and not remembering anything they said or did while intoxicated. It can also lead to a person engaging in dangerous activities and to a person excessively vomiting or having alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol abuse whether short term or long term can have permanent negative consequences on a person’s life and should be avoided.