The short-term effects of alcohol on your mental and physical health, as well as your personal life, will worsen as you continue drinking frequently and heavily. However, most of these effects of alcohol vanish over time after an alcoholic stops drinking. Alcoholics who decide to get sober also gradually recover from the long-term effects of alcohol and are able to become a better version of themselves and live an even better life.
What Alcohol Does to a Person
Many individuals find comfort and a friend in alcohol, especially during tough times. Alcohol, as a depressant drug, slows down brain activity so you feel relaxed and calm after a few drinks. Once the alcohol reaches the brain, it increases the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which results in lower stress, anxiety, and fear levels. GABA is one of the chemicals in the brain that controls communication between your nerve cells.
However, the impact of alcohol on someone worsens as they consume more than the recommended amount or the standard drink. In Australia, the standard drink is any alcoholic drink containing only 10g of pure alcohol. Experts suggest not drinking more than four standard drinks in one day and no more than 10 standard drinks a week. Alcoholic beverages don’t normally show the number of standard drinks the bottle contains, but you can easily find guidelines and even a drink size calculator online.
Short-Term Effects of Alcohol
You must note that no amount of alcohol is considered safe. It’s just that drinking more than the recommended number of standard drinks increases the risks of harm from alcohol. If you or your loved one has been drinking frequently or excessively, the immediate, short-term effects of alcohol should be familiar to you.
An intoxicated person loses coordination and becomes clumsy, cannot speak clearly, and even vomits. He or she can also become reckless and engage in risky activities, as alcohol lowers a person’s inhibitions, distorts their sense of judgment, and makes them more impulsive. Too much alcohol can also cause a person to lose consciousness and have memory lapses. These short-term effects of alcohol typically wear down after several hours.
Long-Term Effects of Alcohol
Prolonged excessive alcohol consumption negatively affects many aspects of a person’s life. You won’t only have to deal with the short-term effects of alcohol, as the substance is directly linked to many medical conditions, including life-threatening ones like cancer, heart disease, and liver disease. Alcoholics also tend to develop mental health issues, with some of them hating themselves and even wanting to end their lives. Developing serious physical and mental health problems is just one of the possible long-term effects of alcohol.
Alcohol misuse or abuse can also mess up relationships. You or your spouse may abandon important responsibilities and roles as a result of alcohol misuse or even engage in domestic violence. Studies even found that alcoholism increases the chances of divorce. Aside from spouses, children, parents, and siblings are also affected.
Many alcoholics also struggle to keep their jobs. You or your loved one may be coming to work drunk, making frequent mistakes, and accomplishing less, which can be grounds for termination. If you’re the boss, you might keep on making wrong decisions. Some even lose most of their possessions and experience financial hardships.
Recovering From Long-Term Effects of Alcohol
Consider spending some time reading or watching testimonials of people who successfully gained freedom from alcohol dependence, and you will find that their lives have become better after they stopped drinking alcohol. For example, Tanya Gold, a journalist who has shared her stories of her battle against alcohol addiction on many publications like Daily Mail, has gotten married and started a family after getting sober.
After stopping drinking, recovering alcoholics gain back control over their lives. Some who had their marriages end because of alcohol abuse have remarried. Others who have neglected their children and families have realized their shortcomings and are able to spend more time with loved ones before it’s too late. Those who cannot stick to their jobs have found their purpose.
And when it comes to the long-term effects of alcohol on health, those whose illness isn’t severe enough were able to recover. It’s because, according to studies, organs that have been damaged by alcohol may naturally regain partial or complete function after alcohol cessation. You’ll just need to stay committed to a healthier lifestyle after getting sober.
For example, the liver is one of the organs that suffer the most because of heavy drinking. An alcoholic may suffer from a variety of alcohol-associated liver diseases (ALD), such as fatty liver or steatosis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Studies suggest that hepatic steatosis completely resolves after a few weeks of abstinence from alcohol. It happened even without making any changes in diet or exercise.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Get Help
Most of the harm done by alcohol to your body and other aspects of your life is reversible as long as you don’t wait too long before getting help. Let’s be real: unfortunately, some of the long-term and short-term effects of alcohol persist even after getting sober. Specifically, some alcohol-associated illnesses cannot be cured, and you might have to live with them for the rest of your life.
For example, according to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), alcoholics who have sustained acute kidney injury (AKI) may require dialysis. Dialysis is a procedure that does what the kidney is supposed to do: filter excess fluid and waste products from the blood. It usually needs to be done for the rest of the patient’s life or until a successful liver transplant.
The worst impact of alcohol abuse is death. In the United States alone, there are approximately 261 alcohol-related deaths every day. Drunk driving is the most common reason alcoholic’s lives are cut short. It’s important to be informed of the risks so you or your loved ones don’t have to be one of the victims.
Many Have Recovered From Alcohol Addiction With HARP’s Help; So Can You!
Alcohol addiction can be tough to overcome, but it is not impossible. Many HARP clients have proven that. Over 500 struggling individuals have already achieved long-term recovery with HARP’s expert assistance, and you can be one of them, too!
Seek holistic healing for alcohol abuse today. Help is here, waiting for you to get in touch.
