Is alcohol bad for the brain?

Alcohol will cause slurred speech, blurred vision, slower reaction times, and impaired memory. Depending on whether a person is drinking on an empty stomach and how quickly the alcohol is consumed, these effects can sometimes be apparent after just one or two drinks.

How often a person drinks, when they started drinking, their gender and size, and whether there is a family history of alcohol will determine what the effects will be.

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the causes of alcohol-related brain injury (ARBI). Alcohol can cause short-term memory loss, dehydration, and can lead to falls and accidents. Alcohol can also increase the risk of seizures.

Alcohol abuse can also lead to traumatic brain injuries because someone who drinks can still drive without making reasonable judgments and may be at greater risk than a sober person. Your chance of falling is increased as is the potential to get into verbal altercations or fist fights. Alcoholics tend to have more head injuries; there is a high rate of alcohol abuse prior to TBI.

Those who continue to use alcohol after traumatic brain injury have more difficulty with thinking skills, cognitive function, and memory problems. Cells are lost after these types of injuries and other cells will have to work much harder. If those cells are affected by alcohol, they find it more difficult to work. Alcohol increases the degree of cognitive difficulties that are already experienced.

People who use alcohol after a brain injury do not recover as quickly or as completely and, in fact, may lose much of the progress they have made. They will lose any abilities they previously had that they could possibly have regained.

For people who have an alcohol-related brain injury or who have had a traumatic brain injury, due to their impaired perception, they don’t realize that their substance abuse is a problem. These are exacerbated by the difficulties for counselors working with survivors and those with ARBI because when those with brain injuries report their alcohol use, the figures are often inaccurate due to their memory deficits.

For those who have brain injuries, the effects of alcohol will be apparent more quickly. After just two beers, my partner will have problems with speech and attitude and after just one glass of rye (particularly the way he likes to serve it), he slurs his words and has trouble walking. Before his injury, although he drank several glasses every day, I saw no outward signs of drunkenness.

These signs become easily apparent due to the effect of alcohol on the brain. The only possible conclusion, therefore, is that alcohol is bad for the brain.