If you’re like most American adults, you probably relax with a glass of wine every now and then. Many people even have a drink daily.
However, did you realize that heavy drinking can negatively affect your brain? How do you know how much is too much?
If your drinking harms your friendships, job, and other areas of your life, it would likely be defined as excessive. Your drinking may also be excessive if you have been arrested for DUI in the Rochelle area and need alcohol counseling.
Having a drink now and then is not likely to cause health problems, but excessive drinking can impact your brain.
How Does Drinking Harm Your Brain and Body?
Experts have found that consuming alcohol has a significant impact on the development of the brain. It causes the cells in your brain to communicate less effectively with one another, meaning your brain is slower to react, and it takes longer for information to be processed correctly. It can cause slurred speech, difficulty walking, memory problems, and even unconsciousness or blackouts.
Drinking too much alcohol can impact the brain in many ways, and one of these consequences is neurotoxicity, which occurs when neurons lose their ability to carry signals correctly. This can cause neurons to ultimately “burn out.”
Your brain relies on various chemical pathways that enable you to think and function throughout the day. As you continue to drink heavily, these pathways can start to suffer, causing a noticeable slowing of pathway reactions. Alcohol dependence is also associated with “brain shrinkage.”
There are several other short-term and long-term effects caused by excessive drinking, including the following.
Short-Term Effects
Excessive drinking has instant effects that raise the risk of many dangerous health conditions. These are usually caused by binge drinking and include the following:
- Alcohol poisoning
- Violence
- Injuries, such as motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, and burns
- Miscarriage, stillbirth, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
- Risky sexual behaviors
Long-Term Effects
Too much alcohol consumption weakens the immune system and can cause chronic diseases to develop and other serious health issues to occur over time, including:
- Heart disease
- Several types of cancer
- Liver disease
- High blood pressure
- Digestive problems
- Stroke
- Learning and memory problems
- Anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues
- Social problems
- Alcohol dependence/ alcohol use disorders
Any alcohol can cause these side effects, including beer, wine, and liquor. According to the CDC, the type of drink doesn’t matter as much as the actual amount of alcohol consumed.
By avoiding heavy alcohol consumption, you can reduce the risk of immediate problems and long-term harm to your health.
Get Help Today with Alcohol Counseling in Rochelle, Illinois
Regardless of how long you have had a drinking problem, it’s never too late to get help. At our DUI Counseling Center, we want to help you change your life by teaching you the tools and skills you need to overcome your drinking problem.
If you’ve been arrested for DUI in Illinois, get in touch with the team at Braden Counseling Center. We offer DUI counseling services, DUI classes, and DUI treatment programs in Sycamore, Rochelle, Elgin, Geneva, Bartlett, and surrounding areas.
Give us a call at one of our convenient office locations, or contact us online today.