Getting drunk makes you clumsy, careless and makes your speech sound like it belongs to someone with brain damage. Alcohol also messes with the chemistry of your brain and triggers feelings of anxiety, sadness, poor sleeping patterns and a reduction in appetite. If you are a heavy drinker you are likely to suffer from depression. Alcohol will also make you feel frustrated, touchy, aggressive and can also make you feel suicidal. Alcohol can also cause physical problems including hepatitis, pancreatitis, impotence and stomach ulcers. You’d think those problems on their own were enough wouldn’t you? Alcohol will also affect your concentration, cause short term memory loss, slow your thought processes and and cause brain damage.

Drinking too much can cause:

  • Permanent memory loss (a similar condition to Alzheimers.)
  • Psychosis and paranoia
  • Suicidal feelings - Many people who attempt suicide have an alcohol problem and most who succeed do so after drinking.
  • Physical dependence- A need to drink alcohol to overcome nerves, the shakes and to feel normal.

A good idea to see how much alcohol you are consuming is to keep a diary, making notes of the amount of alcoholic drinks you have each day. If you are exceeding the recommended weekly quota recommended by medical professionals, then you really should think about doing something about it.

You can use this diary to identify the times when you are frequently drink too much, there is likely to be a pattern, maybe it’s whilst socializing with friends, maybe its drinking after work…whatever the reason, try to think of alternative activities to do which do not revolve around alcohol.

If you cut down and you start to feel awful, it is likely that you are experiencing alcohol withdrawal and you should contact your doctor straight away. Alcohol Withdrawal can be extremely dangerous and can cause fits an even death. The side effects can be addressed with prescribed medicine (eg. Diazepam) and can make the alcohol withdrawal process much easier.

Alcohol misuse and alcohol withdrawal are associated with a variety of mental health problems, some of which are associated with morbidity and mortality. Vitamin B deficiency is common with alcoholics and its absence can exacerbate these problems.