Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment

What is it?
Alcohol is the usual name for ethyl alcohol. It's a central nervous system depressant and is one of the most commonly used (and abused) substances in our society. It is made by the fermentation of fruits, vegetables or grains by yeasts which alter the carbohydrates (sugars) of these plants to ethyl alcohol. Alcoholic beverages consist mostly of various strength mixtures of water and ethyl alcohol.

Medicinal uses
Alcohol is at occasions used as external local anaesthetics and sterilizing agent.

How does it work?
Alcohol depresses areas of the central nervous system - it slows down certain parts of our brain functions. Several regions of the central nervous system are depressed by alcohol, with all sorts of consequences. For example, when the brain's speech centers are inhibited, this creates slurred speech; when the vision centers are affected this produces distorted vision; when the co-ordination centers are depressed this causes a loss of balance and limb control.
The important depressant effect of alcohol lasts for a few hours after drinking, but alcohol also causes a weaker agitation (or irritation) of the nervous system that lasts much longer. This is what brings on the "morning after" hangover and shakiness. It's caused by the irritation of the nervous system by being drunk from alcohol several hours before.
This effect frequently leads heavy evening drinkers to drink again the next morning, as the (very uncomfortable) agitation can be briefly overcome by drinking more alcohol. Therefore, a vicious circle is set in motion, which can play a wide part in alcoholic drinking patterns.

What effect does it have?
The consequence of drinking alcohol depends on the state of the brain at the time, and this in turn varies in function of the drinking environment.
In a quiet environment (little brain activity), maybe at home in an armchair, an alcohol drinker will experience relaxation or drowsiness at low to moderate doses.
In a social context, with lots of sights, sounds and social interaction (lots of brain activity) low doses of alcohol may feel energizing. This is produce by depression of the higher brain centers, which create apparent stimulation by reducing anxiety and self-consciousness. A drinker may become more talkative than usual and show increased self-confidence and loss of self restraint. So, alcohol may feel like a stimulant - but it's not - these effects are a consequence of the inhibition of usual brain activity.
As the alcohol dose increases the depression of brain activity can result in slurred speech, loss of limb co-ordination and loss of emotional control. High amounts of alcohol can inhibit vital brain functions - this can cause deep sedation and slow down the breathing rate, which can result in coma or death.
It is a liquid created by fermentation, which is the action of yeast on liquids containing sugars and starches. Pure alcohol has no colour or taste. Alcoholic drinks differ in colour and taste due to other ingredients that are added to them.
Alcohol is a depressant substance—not a stimulant as many individuals think. Alcohol decreases activity in the central nervous system, which means it slows down the communications going between the brain and the body. Depressant substances affect concentration and coordination, and slow the individual's response time to unexpected situations.
In small amounts, depressants such as alcohol cause individuals to become relaxed and lower their inhibitions. They feel more confident and frequently act in a more extroverted way. In larger amounts, depressants can cause unconsciousness and even fatality.

Alcohol and teens

The relation between alcohol use and college life has long been accepted as the norm within the confines of campus existence. Nonetheless, the past decade has marked a period in time when violent outbreaks and campus riots are being related more and more too teen alcohol abuse, rendering it illicit on several major school grounds. Although such alcohol restrictions represent a potential answer to the issue, they are also causing even more riotous behaviour in as much as students contend their rights are being violated by the limitation.

The concern at hand is not casual social drinking but a phenomenon called binge drinking. Teens who decide to binge drink do so without considering the detrimental effects of such serious consumption, rendering them volatile and defiant when authorities are summoned to calm down a situation that has become out of hand. That binge drinking "is hazardous; it's a problem to protest, not a right to defend" brings to light yet another detrimental impact of adolescent drug abuse.
 The 1990's heralded a new kind of teenage college students who doesn’t take kindly to authority figures, often using alcohol as the way to call forth the courage necessary to defy it. Teen alcohol abuse has become far too usual in colleges across the nation. A combination of "youthful self-indulgence and fearlessness” has been to blame for the sudden increase of alcohol-related campus riots. Teenage college students have become "more violent and less respectful". Attributing several issues to teen drug use, police and on-site campus authorities have said they are having a significantly more hard time controlling alcohol-related behaviour before it escalates to riotous activity. In one semester alone, five separate campuses were victim to seven huge parties that ultimately ended up transforming into violent riots as a consequence of teen alcohol abuse.

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