When people think about addiction to alcohol, they may not consider all the ways people become addicted. There is no typical form of alcoholism. There are generally five types, including young adults, familial, and chronic to severe alcoholism which take over people’s lives. Find out why these exist and how people navigate the challenges of…
When men and women drink, their brains and bodies respond differently. This much has been known for quite awhile and now research is looking into why this is so significant. A glass of wine or beer will change how a man’s brain works in terms of the reward system. This includes the amygdala and hippocampus,…
Chronic alcohol abuse causes significant brain damage, much of which can be reversed with abstinence and sobriety. The brains of people with severe alcohol abuse disorders are smaller and more light than brains of people who are not alcoholics. The brains of those people have ‘shrunken’ compared to nonalcoholic brains. The brain shrinkage affects the…
As a general rule, you should not mix alcohol and antidepressants. This general rule holds true for sertraline hydrochloride, which is the generic chemical name for Zoloft. Zoloft is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that elevates serotonin levels to alleviate symptoms of depression. Zoloft and alcohol both affect the manner in which your brain processes and…
Equating alcohol poisoning with slow death is something of a misnomer. Alcohol poisoning is not an instantaneous event, but if you consume a large amount of alcohol in a very short period of time, alcohol poisoning can kill you in a matter of a few hours. Individuals who succumb to alcohol poisoning often fall into…
As if there aren’t already an infinite number of reasons exercise can benefit your health, there’s now proof that it can help reduce memory deterioration in the brain caused by heavy alcohol exposure. A study published in September’s issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research journal discussed a study done by the University of Colorado…
It’s important to understand the differences and similarities between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse in order to receive the right kind of treatment. The two, though similar in some ways, are quite different and require two different approaches to recovery. The major difference between Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse An alcoholic is a person who suffers from…
Maintaining sobriety after completing treatment can feel like walking up a down escalator. No matter what kind of encouraging words friends and family offer, temptations to take a break and stop walking will arise. Hopelessness and Addiction The hopelessness feels real. To learn to live with addiction, you’ll want to create ways to move through…
When a person gets drunk, what’s basically happening is that they’ve taken in more alcohol than their body can metabolize. The excess gets stored in the bloodstream which gets circulated throughout the entire body thanks to the heart pumping away. Changes in normal body function begin happening as a result of internal chemical changes. Alcohol…
Unrestrained alcohol abuse and dependency has been something of a family business for a few generations now and it was with a certain sense of purpose that I eagerly took up the flag in my early twenties. I’ve struggled with alcoholism for a decade now and it has completely wrecked my career, my relationships, and…