After enjoying a few drinks you’re relaxed, perhaps a bit euphoric and less inhibited. As the familiar saying goes: you’re feeling no pain. But your brain may feel otherwise. That’s because alcohol is essentially a toxin, and your body treats it as such. In fact, were alcohol discovered today, it might be banned because of its potentially lethal impact! Even in moderate, one- to two-drink doses, alcohol has some surprising short-term effects on the brain. ~20/20 THINKING by Maggie Greenwood-Robinson, Ph.D.
It is well established in the mental health field that alcohol consumption can exacerbate an underlying mental health disorder.
ALCOHOL’S SURPRISING SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN
Recreational alcohol users generally recover from its effects without any long-term problems. However, even short-term loss of control over normal mental functioning can result in legal and personal troubles that would likely not have occurred if alcohol were not involved.
ALCOHOL IMPAIRS NORMAL THOUGHT PROCESSES AND BODILY CONTROL
Alcohol requires no digestion and rushes to your brain within a minute. Its first stop is the frontal lobe, the reasoning part of your brain. As alcohol molecules diffuse into the cells of this lobe, they interfere with your judgment. With a few more cocktails, the speech and vision centers of your brain become dulled. Still more booze works on the cells of the brain responsible for large-muscle control. That’s when you start staggering or weaving. Poor judgement, dulled-senses, disturbed motor skills, and reduced coordination all occur because alcohol prevents blood from carrying oxygen to brain cells. When oxygen is in short supply, brain cells are impaired or can die.
With continued drinking, you can pass out. Passing out—believe it or not—may save your life. It stops you from consuming a higher dose, which can anesthetize the deepest brain centers that control breathing and heartbeat, leading to death.
ALCOHOL ACTS AS A DEPRESSANT
The description of alcohol as a depressant means that it slows down the activity of your nervous system, of which your brain is a part. The reason is that alcohol replaces the water normally found around nerve cells. The movement of electrically charged atoms, which send messages along nerve fibers, is thus impaired. As a result, messages dawdle as they travel along nerve fibers. We’re slower to react, and our speech becomes slurred.
ALCOHOL SHRINKS THE BRAIN
Brain cells are very sensitive to alcohol and can actually self-destruct when you’re “under the influence.” The destruction of cells cause the brain to shrivel—even if you are a moderate drinker (one or two drinks a day). The trouble is, the more alcohol you consume, the more your brain shrinks. Brain shrinkage impairs your memory and interferes with your ability to learn. Alcoholics pay the heaviest price: In someone with an alcohol addiction, the brain shrinks by as much as 30 percent. This shrinkage can be permanent unless the alcoholic abstains from drinking altogether.
ALCOHOL BLOCKS PRODUCTION OF THE BRAIN’S ANTIDIURETIC HORMONE
It’s no secret that drinking alcohol beverages means frequent trips to the bathroom. That’s because alcohol steps up your body’s urine output by depressing your brain’s production of antidiuretic hormone. Your body loses precious water as a result, and you’re at risk of becoming dehydrated—unless you alternate alcoholic beverages with water or non-alcoholic choices to keep your body watered. Incidentally, alcohol-related dehydration drains water from your brain cells. When these cells reacquire water the morning after, they swell, causing nerve pain, which is one of several factors that produces a hangover.
ALCOHOL INTERFERES WITH NORMAL SLEEP PATTERNS
A drink or two is sedating and can make you feel sleepy. However, after you hit the pillow, the alcohol in your system prevents you from entering a deep, restorative stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM sleep, your eyes dart around rapidly as you dream. The big deal about REM sleep is that it helps your body recover from mental stress. But when you’re under the influence of alcohol, REM sleep is disturbed. Deprived of REM sleep, you’re likely to lose mental focus and alertness.
ALCOHOL ALTERS THE ACTION OF KEY BRAIN CHEMICALS
Another big problem with alcohol is the way it alters the action of glutamate. Glutamate is involved in memory and learning. Scientists have discovered that even very tiny amounts of alcohol block the action of glutamate—an interference that can affect memory and quite possibly be responsible for a short-lived condition known as the “alcohol blackout.”
Another brain chemical affected by alcohol is GABA, technically known as gamma-aminobutyric acid. GABA is the brain’s natural tranquilizer. A few alcoholic beverages can enhance GABA’s tranquilizing effects, thus mildly sedating your brain.
Alcohol also overstimulates the release of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. Although this stimulation contributes to the temporary “high” you feel when intoxicated, a flood of serotonin also produces mental grogginess.
ALCOHOL WORSENS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PERFORMANCE EVEN WHEN IT’S GONE
Don’t swallow the myth that hangovers are harmless. If you have one the day after a bender, even after alcohol has exited your bloodstream, you’ll experience poor judgement, impaired vision, poor skill at judging distances, and loss of manual dexterity, according to an analysis of nearly fifty scientific studies on the effects of alcohol on performance.
“There is nothing wrong with enjoying yourself and cutting loose a bit during the holidays,” points out Kenneth Anderson. He’s the founder and executive director of the HAMS harm reduction for alcohol network, the author of How to Change Your Drinking and a regular Substance.com contributor.
Drinking should always be a choice — not something you feel pressured into, no matter what the occasion. If your family or friends give you a hard time about abstaining from alcohol on New Year’s Eve, Anderson suggests telling them you’re on antibiotics. Or you can quietly drink near-beer, grape juice, or soda and they will likely not even notice a difference.
’Tis the season to be jolly.
Just not too jolly!
Warm Regards,
Gina McKee
Gina McKee is a yoga enthusiast, movie buff, and a firm believer in the MindBody connection. Her app, Chai Pro-Insight to go, is available from Amazon, ITunes and Google Play. She also has a private practice in O’Fallon, Il. specializing in counseling women and children of all ages.
Connect with Gina on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Pinterest