Short-term effects are considered to be effects of alcohol within the next 72 hours after drinking. Hangovers are the obvious major short-term effect of alcohol. The recovery period is an awful event that takes place the day after. Academic and social success could be affected by this problem. Long-term effects of alcohol possibly include damage of the connection between nerve cells and cause permanent brain damage, including memory loss and personality changes.
As I was browsing through numerous websites that explained the major effects of alcohol on the teenage brain, I was amazed. The brain undergoes vigorous changes throughout teenage adolescence, and alcohol abuse can seriously injure long-term and short-term growth processes. Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue until the age of sixteen, and a high rate of energy is used as the brain matures until the age of twenty. Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term damages. Not only that, these damages are generally irreversible. In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. In a more understandable comparison, adolescents generally require only half as much to drink in order to suffer the same negative effects.
Various research attempts have been done in order to determine the damages of alcohol to underage drinkers as well as drinkers of age. Adolescent drinkers scored much worse than non-alcohol users on vocabulary, general information, memory, the retrieval of memory in addition to at least three other tests. Verbal and non-verbal information recall was most heavily affected. In alcoholic beverage users, there was at least a ten percent decline. Significant neuropsychological deficits are present in early to middle-aged adolescents, typically ages 15 and 16, that have histories of using alcohol extensively. Adolescent drinkers perform much worse in school and academic conquests. Also, adolescents that use alcohol are much more likely to decline academically. If these reasons are not enough to quit using alcohol, adolescent drinkers also possess an increased risk of problems in a social aspect, depression, and psychological defaults. Suicide and violent thoughts are certainly risks that drinking alcohol underage entails, concerning the damages that alcohol does to the brain. In addition, alcohol disturbs one’s sleep cycle. This effect results in learning disabilities and memory dysfunctions. Also, sleep disturbances disrupt the release of hormones that are deemed essential for adolescent development, physical growth, and maturation in all areas of health. Alcohol use in an adolescent also affects the risk of premature stroke, if not when the adolescent becomes the age that certainly risks a stroke.
Alcohol also has effects on the nervous system. Brain cells and the cells that support them can become adulterated and even die. This is extremely serious as brain cells are irreplaceable. As for your reproductive system, the problems that alcohol can cause are immense. For women, alcohol might cause irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and the failure of your sex drive! Male breasts can increase because of the decrease in testosterone levels. Testicular shrinkage and impotence can also be a result of heavy alcohol use. Also, it has been found that a person with a blood alcohol level of .05 to .10, sexual arousal is difficult to reach. A BAC above .10 decreases chances of orgasm and a BAC at .15 or above, impotence is present, even though the impotence is only temporary. In sexual intercourse itself, you might appear clumsy or uncoordinated because alcohol impairs your motor coordination. Also, you might say ridiculous things while having sex that sound so much better in your head while you are under the influence. These comments might be cause of humiliation and ridicule!
When I came to college, I assumed it was going to be “party time” and that I was “invincible” and could not get into trouble. I was extremely wrong. Before I came to college, I passed out in my car and was taken home by the cops. However, they did not give me a ticket. I think that it took the minor in possession and open container tickets to knock some sense into me. I have completely turned my life around. I am back together with my boyfriend of two years, I am doing better in school, and there are no more mornings where I cannot remember what I did last night. Unfortunately, it took me a while to realize these dirty truths about alcohol the hard way. This paper somewhat serves as my testimony to “quitting alcohol.” Alcohol is a drug-no matter what anyone tries to argue. Alcohol is considered just as much an addictive drug as marijuana. It can also be just as hard to stop as a “crack-head” to stop cocaine. Alcohol is NOT the “cool thing to do.” It can make you do stupid things that can ruin your life and your reputation. I truly regret many things that alcohol has caused me to do and I hope that this paper has changed the ways of others as well.
AMA-Brain Damage Risks. October 20th, 2004.
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Alcohol Policy MD. Health Professionals Creating Solutions to Alcohol Abuse.
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Virginia Tech Students: Alcohol’s Effects on the Brain and Body. July 5th, 2005.
<http://www.alcohol.vt.edu/Students/alcoholEffects/brainBody.htm> . October 30th, 2005.
