What Happens When A Person Is Dependent On Alcohol
Research tells us some dangerous and alarming facts about alcohol consumption by people around the world, especially in India. Indian people consume about 663 million liters of alcohol every single year.
Dependency on any kind of substance is an issue that a lot of people are dealing with around the world. Some people are addicted to alcohol, some are addicted to illegal drugs. Even a number of young adults and teenagers get stuck into unhealthy cycles of addictions from a very young age and end up leading a poor life.
Addiction is a psychologically well-understood process and a lot of help is available to the people who are dealing with cold turkey or simply trying to start their journey towards quitting.
Alcohol addiction treatments are available at a number of places and it helps people to have enough support and guidance while trying to quit this unhealthy dependency on something that is harming their body as well as their life.
WHAT IS ADDICTION
In psychological terms, addiction can be related to the different brain activity that occurs over time after, during and after using a substance, like alcohol. For example, say a person starts to drink alcohol on a daily basis. During the state of intoxication, the individual would often feel a state of extreme calmness, peace, or sometimes euphoria or happiness.
The addiction increases with time, and the individual wants to experience more of this calm, peace or euphoric state of mind. But to produce the same effect, each day, the individual would need to consume a little more alcohol than before.
Over time, the situation allows the mind to relate the state of intoxication as a reward, and the individual starts to seek more situations, or create circumstances that allow them to experience the state of intoxication, or simply, they start to show compulsive behavior towards consuming alcohol more often.
This is how addiction affects the mind and makes an individual dependent on a substance. Dependency overconsumption of a substance is simply related to the memory of the experience of intoxication, which the mind reads as a reward.
HARMFUL EFFECTS OF OVER DEPENDENCE ON ALCOHOL
Once an individual has crossed the state from being free to showing compulsive behavior, which includes seeking out instances to consume more alcohol, they have officially become dependent on the substance.
Not only does it promote an unhealthy mental state which can rightfully be called a disorder, but they also experience a number of other issues in their life.
- At the beginning of the dependency state, a person may start to change up their circle of friends. This is simply because an individual who is suffering from compulsive behavior towards consumption of a substance may seek others who do the same.
- An intoxicated individual would have less control over their mind and their social presence may start to become offensive or sometimes even dangerous. For example, an alcohol-dependent person may start to become violent, show negative behavior, or cross the social limits at times like during gatherings or other social events.
- A dependent person could also get into bad instances with their partner and show signs of violence on the personal front. This can have a very bad influence on the family, especially the children at home.
WHAT STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE OF ANY KIND
If you or someone you know is suffering from dependency on alcohol or any other substance, make sure to reach out for professional help. Addiction is a serious mental and psychological condition that also affects the physical health as well as the social presence of a person.
Slowly, addictions may degrade the quality of the life of any individual, especially youngsters. It is very important to regard this seriously and not be casual regarding anyone who is showing symptoms of the same.
Professional help may be reached at various helplines and a number of them specialize in alcohol addiction treatment. They offer mental, psychological, and emotional support and guidance to the people who are suffering from addiction issues, and also to their immediate family members.
This is because addiction can not just change an individual’s life, but also everyone related to them. The recovery is a painful process but extremely vital. Symptoms of addiction may be very minor in the beginning but start to grow with time.
Sometimes, addiction and withdrawal may also lead to attempts towards taking one’s life or harming someone else’s. Understanding the seriousness of one’s condition and supporting them through their journey is what can make things easier for someone who is suffering and also their family.
