Social drinking and the effects one can have on someone's personality is usually a drastic change. Social drinking often occurs at parties, get-togethers, and barbeques. This type of problem drinking is fairly common in all age groups. .
Binge drinking is when a person takes in five or more consecutive drinks without giving their body time to ingest any of the alcohol. This is very dangerous to a person's body and well being and causes many problems. In fact, a study released in April 2002 from the National Institutes of Health indicated that at least 1,400 college students die each year of binge drinking. Binge drinking also contributes to about 500,000 injuries and 70,000 sexual assaults among college students, says the report.
Alcohol poisoning is another problem drinking alcohol can cause the body. The tranquilizing effects of being drunk acts like a stimulate, but really alcohol is a depressant. It makes a people forget their problems, feel good, and want to consume more alcohol. According to Be Responsible About Drinking, Inc., alcohol goes directly to the bloodstream, which is why it affects the body so quickly and cause poisoning easily. Alcohol consumption can cause many different forms of alcohol poisoning from extreme confusion, to vomiting, to unconsciousness or even death. Alcohol, once ingested, works to slow down some of the bodies" functions including heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. When the vital centers have been depressed by alcohol, confusion occurs followed quickly by unconsciousness. This is a body's way of saying it has had an almost lethal amount of alcohol. .
Drinking causes many long-term effects including alcoholism, health problems, death due to drunk driving, and family problems. Currently, there are fourteen million Americans or one in every thirteen adults, abuse alcohol or are alcoholic. F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that "First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.
