Heavy drinking affects your brain and your life in a distinctly detrimental way. However, heavy drinking still runs rampant in the United States. Given the host of physical and social issues, it is frightening that excessive drinking can lead to those who engage in it. This issue with alcohol consumption may stem from a misunderstanding of what constitutes heavy drinking and how heavy drinking affects people’s brains and lives for the worse. Contact Northpoint Recovery at 208.486.0130 to learn how heavy drinking can affect your life, particularly how alcohol addiction can affect your brain. If you’re looking for alcohol addiction rehab in Idaho, consider our treatment center.
What Is Heavy Drinking?
Some people may think of excessive drinking as getting drunk multiple times each week. While that behavior fits the definition of heavy drinking, the actual meaning is much more narrow. It is not difficult to define heavy drinking.
Heavy drinking is considered anything over two drinks daily for men or one for women. This can be expanded to include fourteen drinks each week for men and seven for women. Related to heavy drinking is binge drinking, which is defined slightly differently. Binge drinking can be defined as consuming five or more drinks on one occasion. This level of drinking is what usually leads to intoxication.
How Heavy Drinking Affects Your Brain
One of the key elements of alcohol education is to define heavy drinking and understand how drinking habits can affect the brain. While getting tipsy or drunk may appear harmless, sustaining this excessive drinking over time can be highly detrimental to the brain and your entire nervous system.
For some heavy drinkers, alcohol consumption can lead to alcohol-induced performance impairment. Heavy drinking over time can lead to impaired brain functioning, affecting one’s ability to perform physical and mental tasks. In this way, heavy drinking can affect some individuals’ fine motor skills. In other cases, excessive drinking habits can lead to blackouts or lapses in memory. Still, other heavy drinkers—especially those who have drunk a high level of alcohol for an extended period—can develop severe brain damage, not to mention liver disease.
How Heavy Drinking Affects Your Life Overall
Problematic alcohol consumption can also lead to damage in your social life—including both your workplace and your relationships with loved ones. Millions of Americans currently suffer from alcohol addiction or dependence, and anyone struggling with alcoholism can tell you that it contributes to a wide range of social issues. Some of the most common effects of heavy drinking on everyday life include:
- Strained relationships with partners or loved ones
- Long-term damage to relationships with children
- The development of emotional or psychological problems
- A decrease in performance at work or in school
- An inability to meet your responsibilities at home
- Introducing mistrust or guilt into family life
- The failure to maintain healthy relationships
- Financial and employment problems as alcohol dependence take over
- The inability to participate in social gatherings without the aid of alcohol
Besides detrimental effects on your brain and life, excessive drinking can often become alcohol abuse and addiction.
Find Alcohol Rehab in Idaho at Northpoint Recovery
The critical insight from this post on excessive drinking should be this: you should reach out for help if you find yourself engaging in heavy drinking. While excessive drinking is not always a sign of alcoholism, it can easily lead to addiction and dependence if the problematic drinking habits go unchecked.
If you consistently drink heavily or binge drink, you should reconsider your drinking habits and consider a private alcoholic rehab for treatment as an option. Contact Northpoint Recovery at 208.486.0130 if you’re worried about how heavy drinking affects your brain and life. Our alcohol rehab can help you learn to cope with your addiction and create a healthier lifestyle.