MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS: ALCOHOLISM & ITS EFFECT TO MENTAL

HEALTH

Mental Health
- A state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling
relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt the change and to cope with adversity

There are six major categories of positive mental health (Jahoda, 1958):
1. Attitudes of individual toward self
2. Presence of growth and development, or actualization
3. Personality integration
4. Autonomy and independence
5. Perception of reality
6. Environmental mastery

The mentally healthy person accepts the self, is self-reliant and is self-confident!

Alcoholism
- occurs when a person shows signs of physical addiction to alcohol (for example, tolerance and
withdrawal) and continues to drink, despite problems with physical health, mental health, and
social, family, or job responsibilities. Alcohol may come to dominate the person's life and
relationships.

Studies concluded that there is a close relationship between alcohol problems and mental health.
People with mental health problems are at raised risk of alcohol problems and vice versa.

There is more than one kind of relationship involved:

- mental health problems may be a cause of problem drinking
- problem drinking may be a cause of mental-ill health problems
- there may be a factor in common, in the genes, or in the early family environment, which later
contributes to both a mental health problem and an alcohol problem
- sometimes heavy drinkers start to misuse prescribed drugs, or illegal drugs, causing harm to
mental health

Alcohol is one of the most frequently reported form of substance abuse. Another study found that half
of those with a lifetime addictive disorder also had lifetime mental disorders, vice versa.

Problem drinking and dependence can cause a range of problems such as family conflict and
disruption, job loss and financial problems that are likely in themselves to result in increased levels of
anxiety and depression. Alcohol dependence is one of the main risk factors for suicide.

Conditions in which people may try to use alcohol to cope, with resulting problems, include:
• Depression –resulting from, for example, bereavement, retirement or arising out of
the blue
• Anxiety – social anxiety, claustrophobia, agoraphobia.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Manic- depressive illness / Bipolar Disorder – the elation phase is associated with drinking bouts
• Schizophrenia
Alcohol is the second most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world, (caffeine comes first) and
some of the most frequently cited reasons for drinking involve bringing about a change of mood in order
to feel better – drinking ‘to relieve stress’, cheer oneself up etc Equally, drinkers may complain that
alcohol makes them feel depressed or has some other adverse effect on their mental state. Stress has also
been identified as a cause of relapse in alcohol dependence.

ALCOHOL & THE BRAIN

Acute Intoxication
- neurological effects are seen almost immediately leading, if enough alcohol is consumed, to all
the signs and symptoms of intoxication and the consequent deterioration of behavior.
- The effects of alcohol intoxication at various dosage levels are influenced by a range of factors
such as genetics, psychological, cultural and environmental
- Cognitive impairment is normally evident, with adverse effects on learning, memory and the
ability to process complex information.
- Psychomotor performance is also degraded
- The higher the blood alcohol level, the greater the impairment!

Long Term Effects

- It is associated with extensive brain damage and cognitive deficits leading ing extreme cases to
alcoholic dementia, a loss of intellectual functioning combined with amnesia.

BENEFITS FOR MENTAL HEALTH OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

It has been suggested that light to moderate drinking can improve mood and social adjustment and help
non-problem drinkers cope with stress or other negative emotional states.

However, there is scant evidence that light to moderate drinking has any beneficial effects in relation to
psychiatric disorders. Alcohol dependence delays recovery from co-existing psychiatric conditions

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

- Memory lapses (blackouts) after heavy drinking
- Withdrawal symptoms when alcohol use is stop such as nervousness, feeling of shakiness,
irritable, anxiety, depression, fatigue, difficulty with thinking clearly, headache, insomnia, hand
tremor
- Continuing to drink, even when health, work, or family are being harmed
- Drinking alone
- Episodes of violence when drinking
- Lack of control over drinking
- Making excuses to drink
- Missing work or school, or decrease in performance
- Need for daily or regular alcohol use to function
- Neglecting to eat
- Secretive behavior to hide alcohol use
- Not caring for physical appearance

MANAGEMENT
- Abstinence – completely avoiding the use of alcohol
- Reduce the amount you drink
 - Help people realize how much their alcohol use is harming their life and the lives of those around
them
- Help them see that drinking is preventing them from reaching their goals
- Detoxification and Rehabilitation programs
- Cognitive – Behavioral Therapy
- Medications (Acamprosate, Disulfiram, Naltrexone) - *take note! You cannot take these
medications if you are pregnant or have certain medical conditions*
- Support groups such as Alcoholic Anonymous which is a self-help group of recovering alcoholics
that offers emotional support and a model of abstinence for people recovering from alcohol
dependence
- Maintain support systems

COMPLICATIONS
• Brain and nervous system complications:
• Brain degeneration and dementia
• Depression and suicide
• Nerve damage
• Severe memory loss
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
• Cancers of the larynx, esophagus, liver, and colon
• Delirium tremens (DT's)
• Digestive tract disorders:
• Esophageal bleeding
• Liver disease (alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver)
• Pancreatitis
• Poor nutrition because vitamins aren't absorbed properly
• Other complications:
• Heart muscle damage
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Problems getting an erection (in men)
• Stopping of the period (menstruation) in women
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Violence

Sources:
Pedersen, D. Psych Notes: Clinical Pocket Guide.2nd ed. F.A Davis Company: Philadelphia. © 2000
http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/factsheets/mentalhealth.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001940/