Is Alcohol Bad for the Brain?

I believe that excessive alcohol can contribute to dire consequences for the brain. Because of alcohol's effects on the brain, studies have shown that other areas can also be affected such as the central nervous system and the blood supply.

Alcohol will cause speech to be slurred, vision to be blurred, reaction times to be slower and memory to be impaired. Depending on whether a person is drinking on an empty stomach and how quickly they consume the alcohol, these affects can sometimes be apparent after only one or two drinks.

How often a person drinks, when they first began drinking, their gender and size and whether there is a family history of alcohol all will determine what the effects will be. Heavy drinking is one of the causes of acquired brain injury (Alcohol Related Brain Injury - ARBI). Alcohol can cause short-term memory loss, dehydration and can lead to falls and accidents. Alcohol can also increase the risk of seizures following brain injury.

Alcohol abuse can also lead to traumatic brain injuries because someone who is drinking may still drive without making reasonable judgments and may take more risks than a sober person would. Their chance of falling is increased as is the potential of getting into verbal altercations or fisticuffs. Alcoholics tend to have more head injuries; there is a high rate of alcohol abuse before TBI.

Those who continue to use alcohol after a traumatic brain injury have more difficulty with thinking abilities, cognitive function and memory problems. Cells are lost after a brain injury and other cells will have to work that much harder. If those cells are affected by alcohol, it makes it more difficult for them to work. Alcohol worsens problems already brought about by the brain injury.

People who use alcohol after a brain injury don't recover as quickly or as completely and in fact, can lose much of the progress they have made. They will lose what skills they had previous to the brain injury that they could possibly have regained.

For people who have alcohol related brain injury or have suffered a traumatic brain injury, because of their impaired insight they do not realize that their substance abuse is a problem. The problem is exacerbated for counselors working with survivors of brain injury and those with ARBI because when those with brain injuries report on their use of alcohol the figures are usually inaccurate because of their memory deficits.

For those who have brain injuries, the affects of alcohol will be more quickly apparent. After only two beers, my partner will have problems with speech and attitude and after only one glass of rye, (particularly the way he likes to pour them), he is slurring his words and having difficulty walking. Before his brain injury, although he drank several glasses every day, I saw no outward signs of inebriation.

These signs become readily apparent because of alcohol's effect on the brain. The only conclusion possible, therefore, is that alcohol is bad for the brain.