Alcoholism and Its Effects on Behavior and Memory - Term Paper Example

An Analysis of Alcoholism and its effects on Behavior and Memory INTRODUCTION Alcoholism is a major problem for individuals, families and general society. Alcoholism is defined as compulsive or excessive use of alcoholic beverages (Merriam Webster 1). It is also defined as a disorder that is fueled by or leads to psychological dependence on alcohol. There are some in society who believe that alcohol is a biological disease. Others in society think that alcoholics make a choice to over-indulge in alcohol products. Therefore, they can have control over this decision-making. No matter what opinion that people in society hold about alcoholism, these habits have the ability to create changes in social behavior. Some alcoholics become aggressive when they drink. Other alcoholics become uninhibited and behave inappropriately during social situations. Most of these changes happen because of the problems that alcohol creates within the brain, therefore changing behaviors for most alcoholics. Alcoholism transforms social behavior, impacts memory processes, and also creates many negative health problems when consumed regularly. More research attention should be given to this problem. WHAT OCCURS IN THE BRAIN WHEN CONSUMING ALCOHOL One of the main parts of the brain affected by alcohol consumption is the hippocampus. Science recognizes the hippocampus as one of the most important regions of the brain that affect memory. It is part of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that controls hearing and visual senses. The cerebral cortex also controls voluntary human movements (such as walking ability) and controls how the individual becomes self-regulated for certain behaviors. A normal brain has two sides of the hippocampus, right and left, that assists in a variety of memory systems and motor control. A respected study was conducted in 1957 in which the hippocampus was surgically destroyed in an effort to remove epileptic seizures from patients. After the surgery was completed, the patient experienced very serious memory problems and partial amnesia (Scoville and Milner 14). This shows that the hippocampus is a vital brain resource that controls many functions that are often impaired by alcohol abuse. When an alcoholic consumes large amounts of alcohol, the chemical structure of alcohol blocks synapses in the hippocampus (and other parts of the brain) that are important for memory production and retention. Alcohol blocks messages from moving between some nerve cells (neurons) and other parts of the brain and the body. Neurotransmitters are affected negatively, including dopamine levels and serotonin in the brain, which affects behavior and motor controls. Dopamine is responsible for motor functioning and plays a very important role in what drives motivational behaviors. Alcohol is directly responsible for creating larger amounts of dopamine that changes certain behaviors (Brodie and Pesold 1850). A normal person that is not addicted to alcohol is better able to manage their behaviors related to motivations. However, higher dosages of dopamine can create aggression as a motivation. Alcoholism can also create the motivation to be socially inappropriate in a variety of situations. The link between the brain and alcohol intake is clearly supported through scientific research. When an alcoholic consumes large amounts of alcohol, it can lead to blackouts. Blackouts are a form of temporary amnesia where the drinker is unable to recall recent events from the past. This is a common situation that happens with binge drinkers in society. Large volumes of alcohol enter the hippocampus and other brain areas and block out the mechanisms that provide memory production. This is often why drinkers in the family household that become aggressive with family members are unable to recall the situations that occurred during their drinking episodes. Many alcoholics experience the ability to recall events from just a few minutes prior, but remember nothing that occurred prior to this timeframe once the alcohol began to be consumed. In a social environment, this can cause frustration to others when attempting to show the alcoholic that they have shown signs of massive behavior change. Blame and refusal to accept that behavior has been modified can often occur when the hippocampus is affected negatively by alcohol consumption. Some people in society confuse blackouts with the situation of passing out, but they are very different. Blackouts do not involve loss of consciousness. Instead, they are periods that usually last until the alcohol is no longer being consumed or the next day when friends or family members try to convince the alcoholic that they have been inappropriate or hostile. The role of the hippocampus and alcohol as a blocking entity for neurons is extremely clear when trying to assess the alcoholic and their behavioral changes. It is usually people who consume alcohol products very quickly that experience blackouts. Alcoholics that consume alcohol slowly are often able to avoid the blackout phenomenon. People that have consumed large amounts of alcohol are also slower to respond to basic tasks than a non-alcoholic. It becomes difficult due to problems with long-term memory after a long period of alcoholism to recognize words and make the proper decoding processes to help in language understanding. This is why alcoholics often have slurred words when speaking and cannot focus on reading and other printed instructions. Because of differences in brain chemistry between men and women, females usually have more problems with word recognition than males. All of the physical changes that happen in the brain create an addiction situation that raises a person’s tolerance for alcohol consumption. Along with this addiction is a physical change in the brain that prevents the individual from denying their compulsive behaviors (Hoffman and Tabakoff 336). There are many people in society who argue that compulsive behaviors that lead to alcoholism are genetic. However, it would seem that it is the physical properties of alcohol along with the brain changes that aid in obsessive alcohol consumption. Excessive drinking de-sensitizes brain receptors that results in a genuine physical dependency on alcohol (Hoffman and Tabakoff 337). Alcoholics that try to suddenly stop drinking find themselves having withdrawal symptoms. This is because the central nervous system has grown used to having brain synapses firing constantly. Sudden halting of alcohol consumption can lead to severe anxiety, seizures, hallucinations and even heart failure in some serious cases (McCully 57). This is why detoxification centers and hospital staff always attempt to wean the alcoholic gradually instead of making the individual go dry rapidly. The severe physical problems that occur when the brain and the nervous system is no longer stimulated by alcohol can be fatal. The alcoholic also has other physical complaints that happen after long-term alcoholism. They often complain of such issues as insomnia, irritability and even chronic fatigue syndrome (Fernandez et al. 107). Chronic fatigue syndrome is when the individual is unable to perform basic tasks (such as showering or walking) because they are too tired and depressed. Insomnia often occurs because the serotonin levels in the brain are hyper-stimulated which is known to have an effect on sleeping patterns. Irritability means that the alcoholic has done so much damage to their brains that they are no longer having regular moods and are now subject to mood swings. This is due largely to the damage that is caused to the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. As mentioned, these are the regions of the brain that impact certain behavioral responses. Unfortunately, the damages to the brain that is caused by alcoholism are permanent. Over time, the brain becomes damaged and is no longer functioning like a normal brain. This is why long-term alcoholics have recognizable language problems and also problems with processing information. The individual that has been an alcoholic for a long period of time also has problems with basic tasks, including walking and even automatic responses such as vision. It is clear that alcoholism has many negative effects, both short and long-term, making it a very serious problem in society and for the individual drinker. THE ALCOHOLIC YOUTH Many of the physical changes already described in the brain aid to certain behavioral problems for the alcoholic. Society must remember that it is not just adults that are alcoholics, but children and adolescents as well. It is during adolescence and puberty that the youths’ brains are developing their most important neural connections. Many young people that drink do lasting damage to the hippocampus and cerebral cortex that has long-term consequences. Not only is memory affected, but the parts of the brain that control behavioral responses. Young people that have had problems with alcoholism develop conduct disorders. These disorders include an inability to stop lying, problem behaviors in the school environment, and permanent learning disabilities. This is why alcoholism in young people is such a major concern. From the ages of 12 to 19, the young person begins to develop their ability to understand complicated concepts and abstract reasoning. It is also when the brain becomes developed to be able to understand moral and ethical lessons that are norms in society. Alcoholism does so much damage to the brain that the youth may not be able, as an adult, to function well in society. They can develop anti-social behaviors that lead to such outcomes as criminal behavior or any number of psychological disorders that affect relationships and friendships. There are many consequences of youth drinking for society. Educators will have a difficult time in many cases trying to set up discipline systems for those that have had their ethical and moral centers affected by alcoholism. Families also can lose important relationships with young people that develop anti-social disorders when alcohol permanently affects their brain structures. Society should be concerned about adolescent alcoholism problems because drinking could lead to a person that is unable to provide value to society. A youth alcoholic is likely to have long-term social adjustment problems or even criminal behaviors that affect everyone in the culture. UNDERSTANDING THE ALCOHOLIC ADULT For the adult, one behavioral change is aggression and hostility. In the United States, much drinking happens in environments where there are negative stimuli. Crowded and noisy bars and pubs often fuel aggressive behaviors in the alcoholic. Previous researchers have shown that when alcoholics consume their alcoholic drinks in environments where there is negative visual and audible stimuli, aggression can occur easily (Berkowitz 1138). This is because the centers of the brain that are affected by alcohol consumption control behavioral responses and the senses. After an individual has consumed large amounts of alcohol, they often complain about loud noises when trying to recover from an evening of binge drinking. The senses decode the information from the noisy environments where alcohol is being consumed which force the alcoholic to respond negatively. This usually shows itself in the form of hostility or aggression. This is why bars and night clubs often have problems with fights after a long evening of alcohol consumption. Alcohol also affects centers of the brain that regulate self-control. Alcohol is considered to be a disinhibitor, Disinhibitor is defined as any substance that reduces a person’s shyness or acting on impulsive needs and motivations. The properties of alcohol can often lead to excessive flirting in the social environment, risky sexual encounters with others, or totally inappropriate self-disclosure about their personal lives. One more common outcome of alcoholism is exhibitionism (Langstrom and Seto 430). This is when an individual wants to draw a great deal of attention to themselves. One need only look at Spring Break periods in New Orleans that shows young people that show exhibitionism, grabbing at their own genitals or showing off their breasts in front of large crowds in society. Oftentimes, this leads to dangerous sexual encounters that can cause harm to the health of the alcoholic. When this is combined with memory losses, it becomes even more dangerous. Why, though, do alcoholics like to be exhibitionists? Cognitive function is so largely impaired by alcoholics that consume large amounts of alcohol that they lose rational thought processes. They are unable to understand the difference between rational behavior and the irrational. Often, when friends or family in the social environment try to stop these exhibitionist behaviors, aggressive habits begin to surface which only fuels more inappropriate behavior. In an effort to show their independence from social advice, the alcoholic will only increase their public intoxication behaviors. The connection between whether previous lifestyle problems are related to exhibition behaviors is not known. It is also not supported by any identifiable research studies. It should then be assumed that the short-term damage caused to certain areas of the brain simply break down the ability to control the self in a social environment. It is not only exhibition that is an outcome of alcoholism. Anti-social behaviors can often result. This is especially common with female adult alcoholics. Society has set up a variety of social norms that drive what is considered to be acceptable social behavior for others. A product of this is the social stereotype, a type of label that is placed on people in society that do not fit the social norm (or fit it well). For example, social stereotypes often have women being passive and men being aggressors which drive social decision-making about normal behaviors. Female alcoholics often concern themselves with the stereotype placed on women that believes alcoholism for females is dirty or inappropriate. This is when they are made to be compared with male drinkers. Women, therefore, will often drink alone in an effort to hide their alcoholism problems. Drinking alone can lead to other problems such as depression. Wanting to hide from the social stereotypes often makes the female drinker not seek help for their problem. It should not be forgotten that social stereotypes often play a role in the drinking habits of alcoholics. It also affects their willingness to take part in positive social situations. Isolation from others in an effort to hide female drinking can lead to thoughts of suicide as depression gets darker and more present. Psychology theory tells society that nearly everyone in society requires a sense of social belonging in order to develop self-confidence and self-esteem. Many women (and men) need constant social reassurance from their important reference groups in order to build a positive identity. When alcoholism has forced the female drinker into the shadows, they do not have the support networks socially that are necessary for positive mental health. This can cause the alcoholic female adult to question their personal security that can lead to anxiety or other mental health problems. Add to this the damages to the brain that control behavior and rational thought and the woman alcoholic now has a range of very difficult emotional problems that need counseling or other assistance. It should also be seen that the affects of alcohol are not always negative. Sometimes, large amounts of alcohol consumed helps with social bonding (Kirchner et al. 789). Why is this? The alcoholic has problems with controlling their impulses during drinking episodes. It also leads to self-disclosure that would often be considered inappropriate in some social circles. When the alcoholic and others are consuming alcohol together in a social environment they often get to the heart of their emotions and feelings that would not normally be discussed when sober. Assuming no blackouts occur, it can lead to a very strong emotional bond with men and women alike that build trust and connection. Common interests can be discussed or powerful emotional needs that build a different type of relationship than between two sober individuals. It is important to see that not all effects of alcohol are negative, though most are. Alcohol sometimes causes the alcoholic to gain access to their complicated need and desires that a normal person keeps hidden from others. It is quite common for alcoholics to show these feelings about the self during alcoholic periods (often with family members) in an effort to get others to feel pity and sympathy for their emotional problems. When these attitudes are shown in an environment where social drinking happens, it is not surprising that the alcoholic is able to build important friendships with an inability to hide their deepest emotions. This is likely occurring because of the blockages that occur in the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. Outside of the social condition, aggression will often show itself in the family structure when the alcoholic is present. Some alcoholics take out their aggressions on the weaker sex or their children as they become easy targets for hostility. Child abuse is a common outcome of family alcoholism (Freisthler, Needell and Gruenewald 1053). Children are often the obvious targets of increased aggression since they are unable to defend themselves properly. The alcoholic is able to drive a sense of fear into the child (and sometimes the spouse) to prevent them from seeking legal or police assistance. This is why the cycle of aggression continues to reveal itself in the family structure. Psychology tells society that many drinkers lack self-esteem that comes from long histories of alcoholism and abuse during their childhoods or adolescent periods of development. People with self-esteem problems will often look for weaker individuals to try to build their egos and target them with many types of negative verbal and physical abuse to make themselves feel better (Henslin 361). Not all alcoholics have self-esteem problems. However, research has shown that many alcoholics as adults were violated as young people by family members or other acquaintances that had alcoholism problems. Often, it takes the form of childhood abuse both physical and verbal that leads to very long-term mental and emotional problems in the adult drinker. It is often common for the alcoholic to repeat the same cycle of abuse since they did not learn how to get help as a child or cope properly with their experiences with another alcoholic. This is a dangerous trend but a very common one in society for people who must aim physical and verbal abuse against weaker individuals in order to improve their own sense of self-worth. Psychologists and psychiatrists often use a variety of different strategies to try to get to the heart of what is causing adult alcoholics to drink compulsively. This is often about getting the alcoholic to open up about their early childhood and experiences with alcoholic families. Many times, these feelings are bottled up tightly in their unconscious making it necessary for the alcoholic to undergo intense psychotherapy. Emotional damage that is caused in childhood is brought to the surface by ongoing alcoholism problems. Many strategies to change these behaviors include cognitive behavioral therapy or the help of a certified psychiatrist. When the drinker has many self-esteem problems and their anger becomes explosive because of alcohol consumption, the people who suffer in the family is often the spouse and the child. This is why divorce rates are so high with alcoholic families, especially when male fathers are the alcoholic (Henslin 364). For some reason, the evidence seems to show that male alcoholics in the family go on the attack against family members to improve their own sense of self-worth. Alcoholics often use drinking as a means of escaping from very difficult feelings and attitudes anyhow and the dopamine releases related to alcohol consumption brings these feelings right to the surface of consciousness. When this is combined with a lack of self-control created by problems in the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex, it is not surprising that the alcoholic with confidence problems begins showing aggressive behaviors against important family members. The key is for counselors or psychiatrists to understand why the alcoholic has only a small amount of confidence in themselves in order to come up with a valuable treatment plan for alcoholism. When the drinker is resistant to these efforts, it only makes the problem even worse especially within the family that is frustrated or emotional about the abuse that happens in the household. CONCLUSION The research has shown that there are many changes that happen in the brain when alcoholism occurs. Alcohol moves into the brain and the central nervous system and changes behaviors, attitudes, and even self-control that are present in a non-alcoholic person. The release of chemicals triggered by large amounts of alcohol being consumed impact sleep patterns and even creates a variety of physical symptoms. The role of the brain in controlling behavior and basic biological functions is very important and alcoholism creates many long-term problems with emotions and behavior in the constant drinker. Motor control problems are common with alcoholism, including an inability to speak properly when intoxicated (and when not intoxicated in some severe cases). This makes alcoholism a very large problem for society, the family and the social support network that is involved with the alcoholic. It seems that when the alcoholic already has existing mental health problems that the impact of aggression and hostility becomes more intense. A constant drinker that has very limited self-esteem can bring many burdens onto others in the family or social environment and even lead to problems in academics when thinking about childhood alcoholics. There is clearly a link between the damages done to many centers of the brain, in both children and adults, and the type of behavior problems that show themselves within the alcoholic. Even though many people in society claim that alcoholism is a disease, there simply is not enough evidence to support this. The evidence shown in this paper point toward long-term problems with increased alcohol tolerance from an individual that is unable to control their impulses. Long-term usage of alcohol in high volumes desensitizes the central nervous system and certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Research did not show enough support that alcoholism is a craving brought on by genetic problems. Instead, it showed that the alcoholic does long-term damage to their bodies through regular consumption of alcoholic products that leads to a certifiable alcoholism problem. It is clear that alcoholism has many negative outcomes, including positive ones in building better support networks during drinking episodes. However, the volume of negative situations related to alcoholism clearly outweighs any positive benefits. Even though the drinker is able to build emotional connections with others in the social environment, increases in hostility and irrational thinking create many problems that often require treatment or therapy. The ability of alcohol to change behaviors, create problems with short and long-term memories, and the development of health problems show that alcoholism is a serious problem in society that requires more research attention. This will help all members of society understand what creates alcoholism problems and how to combat them properly. Works Cited Berkowitz, Len. Aversively Stimulated Aggression: Some parallels and differences in research with animals and humans, American Psychologist. 38.1 (1983): 1135-1143. Print. Brodie, Mark S. and Christine Pesold. Ethanol directly excites dopaminergic ventral tegmental area reward neurons, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 23.11 (1999): 1848-1852. Print. Fernandez, Avallaneda, Martin Perez, Izquierdo Martinez, Arruti Bustillo, et al. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Aetiology, Diagnosis and Treatment, BMC Psychiatry. 9.1 (2009). Print. Freisthler, Bridget, Barbara Needell and Paul J. Gruenewald. Is the Physical Availability of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs related to Neighborhood rates of child maltreatment?, Child Abuse & Neglect. 29.9 (2005): 1049-1060. Print. Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, 7th ed. Boston: A&B Publishing, 2005. Print. Hoffman, Paula L. and Boris Tabakoff. Alcohol Dependence: A Commentary on Mechanisms, Alcohol Alcohol. 31.4 (1996): 333-340. Print. Kirchner, Thomas R., Michael A. Sayette, Jeffrey F. Cohn, Richard L. Moreland and John M. Levine. Effects of Alcohol on Group Formation among Male Social Drinkers, Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 67.2 (2006): 785-793. Print. Langstrom, Niklas and Michael Seto. Exhibitionistic and voyeuristic behavior in a Swedish National Population Survey, Archives of Sexual Behavior. 35.2 (2006): 427-435. Print. Merriam Webster. Alcoholism. 2013. Web. March 30, 2013 McCully, Chris. Goodbye Mr. Wonderful: Alcohol, Addiction and Early Recovery. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004. Print. Scoville, William Beecher and Brenda Milner. Loss of Recent Memory after Bilateral Hippocampal Lesions, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 20.1 (1957): 11-21. Print. Read More