Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Complications of Alcoholism

Complications of alcoholism is defined as excessive drinking over a long period of time creating medical, psychological, and social problems for the alcoholic. Over the course of months or years of drinking, the central nervous system adapts to the alcohol and tolerance develops. Then the drinker requires more amounts of alcohol to receive the desired effect. Despite adverse effects, the person continues to drink and will likely increase the amount and frequency. Over time, withdrawal symptoms (high blood pressure, tremors), a sign of physical dependence, may develop when not using. 

This becomes to be a cycle of abuse, being at risk of dependence starts. A few complications of alcoholism would be depression, low self-esteem, puberty being onset, depending on alcohol to be in society, substitution of alcohol for emotional support, being lonely, and self-medicating. 

Medical complications of alcoholism are: alcohol can damage all organ systems including blood-forming (anemia, easy bruising), cardiovascular (abnormal heartbeat, heart failure, high blood pressure, increased heart rate), gastrointestinal (diarrhea, gastritis, inflammation and/or cancer of the esophagus), heightened risk of communicable diseases (TB), liver damage, low blood sugar, hepatitis, liver cancer, and ulcers. 

Neurological complications of alcoholism: confusion, loss of coordination and concentration, nerve damage, psychosis, short-term memory problems, stroke, and visual difficulties.  

Some social complications of alcoholism are suffering in relationships, higher rates of divorce and separation, higher rates of domestic violence, higher rates of violence and aggressive behaviors, higher rates of legal problems, and higher rates of death. There is a high suicide rate for alcoholics it is as high as eighty percent.  

The psychological complications that are connected to alcoholism they include: 44 proc of alcoholics have mental health disorders that were present before dependence; mood disorders, along with a major depression usually occurs after their dependence. 

The assessment of alcoholism depends on interviews, self-report questionnaires to keep track of the quantity and the number of times the person drinks. All the questions focus on two different aspects: consequences of drinking and perceptions of drinking behavior. Clinics determine risk for abuse and dependence based on how much and how often a person drinks.

Posted by rubymwrighttt in 13:58:32
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