Stressful living and increasing alcohol consumption are often the result of an inability to cope with the increasing challenges of today’s hectic life styles. When people are living under an undue amount of stress, often as a result of family and financial problems, it is very tempting for people to find momentary relief by simply “taking a drink”. Not only does this “quick fix” solution not work, it usually results in eventual crises problems such as alcoholism, violence, and inability to function on any kind of semblance of normality.
Heavy drinking not only impairs a person from performance in a work environment, it also results a number of physiological changes that eventually lead to serious mental and physical conditions that can result in permanent incapacity or death. And for those who are already suffering from the effects of stress, excessive drinking only aggravates an already serious condition.
Children of parents who drink are affected by the double effects of stress and abnormal behavior. Cases of parental abuse brought on by heavy drinking are common occurrences, and can lead to extreme case of violence, resulting in physical injury and even death. Many cases of child beating, especially in infants and small children are often the result of severe stress combined with excessive drinking. Many children even begin to drink themselves, in order to ‘escape’ the intolerable living conditions that they are subjected to.
Another problem brought on by heavy drinking is a lack of desire by the drinker to undertake any form of physical activity. Heavy drinking is also connected with overeating, as the alcohol in the systems numbs the feeling of fullness and results in the person eating even more.
Medical research has proven that heavy consumption of alcohol stimulates the lease of certain hormones, especially by the hypothalamus, adrenal and pituitary glands. These hormones actually aggregate stress reactions and make then worse. Chronic drinking also results in the release of high amounts of adrenalin into the body which result in creased amounts of stress. And increased alcohol consumption also cause a person to lose inhibitions and participate in harmful activities such as gambling or dangerous activities such as skydiving or car racing.
The bottom line is that stress and alcohol simply do not mix. Treatments by psychologists try to eliminate the need to drink as a way to cope with stress.
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