Short-Term Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol is a potent central nervous system depressant with a wide range of effects. The amount you consume effects how drunk you will get. 

The effects of alcohol change over time. When you first start drinking. You may feel relaxed. But the more you drink, the more side effects you begin to feel, like blurred vision and slurred speech. 

Euphoria is an effect that alcohol has on people. Essentially, getting the euphoric effect means you will feel an overall mood improvement. You may be more self-confident when drinking. Your attention span shortens and you may feel more flushed. Whether your believe it or now, your judgment won't be as good as you think it is and you may well say the first thing that comes to mind or do things that you would not normally do. You will also start to have trouble with fine movements such as signing their name. With more alcohol, lethargy may start to set in. Lethargy is the side effect where you may become sleepy. You have trouble remembering things that happened, even recent things you have done. Body movements are uncoordinated and you may react to situations more slowly. Your vision becomes blurry and they have trouble seeing.

Confusion is also caused by drinking. You may get confused and very emotional, less likely to respond to pain. If you get in a fight while you are drunk, you will not feel the pain until the alcohol wears off.

Stupor is another short term effect of alcohol. In this condition movement is seriously impaired and you may lapse in and out of consciousness. You can slip into a coma and become completely unaware of your surroundings. At this point, the risk to the body is very high due to alcohol poisoning. Loss of body functions can begin like losing control of the bladder, breathing and heart rate.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol can lead to coma and even death. If you want to avoid these risks, the best way to do it is to avoid alcohol. You can start being effected by alcohol from the very first sip, whether you realize it or not. 

Excessive doses of alcohol can cause long term as well as short-term side effects. Some of the long term effects are: slowing, blurred vision, vertigo, amnesia, ataxia, and hangovers.

The liver is part of the body's filtration system. This means when it is damaged it allows certain toxins to build up, leading to symptoms of Jaundice. This is what you are seeing when a person's skin begins to turn yellow. 

Many people don’t think of alcohol as a drug but the fact is that it is a drug. It is just as lethal as any other drug can be. When you overuse any drug you can expect consequences. This is also true with alcohol. Many people think that it is okay to have a beer once in a while or that if you drink at home you won’t be hurting anyone. 

Think again. You are hurting yourself and by hurting yourself you are hurting the ones that care about you. Whether you drink some at home or at a bar, alcohol can have the same effect on you. One sip and the process begins.

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In order to start making changes with your relationship with alcohol please visit the Alcohol Free Social Life website where you will learn specific techniques and examples of how to make changes now: