The human race has come far and progressed so much in such short time, one thing that has never changed is the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol has been present in the majority of the time humans have been around, so long that beer jugs were discovered that dated back to 10,000 BC(Franke). As civilization began to develop, alcohol and other drugs had began to integrate into society. But to what extent have people gone to remain in an alternate state of mind through the use of substances such as alcohol and other drugs. One place these substances are widely available are on college campuses.
One thing that college has become to be known for its students binge drinking, this is a serious issue because its effects people social lives, quality of education and their health. College students binge drinking has become a integrated into the culture, which could lead to sutendents to form an addiction to alcohol and to other drugs. Over the past few years the amount of university students who drink has increased, this is one of the leading concerns among university students. One of the main question is what is alcohol exactly. Alcohol is a stimulant depressant, which is a psychoactive drug which slows down the neurotransmission.
Alcohol affects the brain in such a way that, the person consuming alcohol, feel less stress, can reduce pain, and lastly reduces anxiety. It can also cause blurred vision, lack of motor controls, slow reaction time, and difficulty speaking, these factors change depending how much alcohol one person consumes(National Institute on Alcohol abuse, 2004). Some people fail to realize the long term effects of continuous consumption of alcohol early on before they damage their health. Most students go out party get blacked out drunk, wake up the next morning take some pain medications for the hangover and repeat that over again and again.
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This is the issue right here students do not care whether they hurt other or themselves while under the influence of alcohol. “In fact, in a recent national survey of college students, close to 80% of respondents indicated that they had experienced at least one adverse consequence as a result of other students’ alcohol use” (Read, Wood). I can recall one instance where my friends actions while he was intoxicated had a directly affected me. One night he and his girlfriend got drunk and began to argue over something, somehow they dragged me into their ongoing argument, that situation made me uncomfortable and annoyed.
The argument lead to a point where my friend was screaming at his girlfriend and attempted to throw himself of the second floor of our building. After this incident I knew that my friend and his girlfriend had their relationship issue but involving alcohol made it much worse. Its is well known that drinking moderately has no significant health effect but if a person who has been drinking heavily over a long period can develop brain damage even after that person has stopped drinking(National Institute on alcohol abuse).
What is alcohol exactly, “Alcohol (ethanol or ethyl alcohol) is the ingredient found in beer, wine and spirits that causes drunkenness.”(Alcohol.org).“Alcohol is classed as a ‘sedative hypnotic’ drug, which means it acts to depress the central nervous system at high doses. At lower doses, alcohol can act as a stimulant, inducing feelings of euphoria and talkativeness, but drinking too much alcohol at one session can lead to drowsiness, respiratory depression (where breathing becomes slow, shallow or stops entirely), coma or even death.
As well as its acute and potentially lethal sedative effect at high doses, alcohol has effects on every organ in the body and these effects depend on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over time.”(Alcohol.org). What is leading students to pick up the bottle and start drinking? Everyone starts to drink for various reason from it was present in their environment while they were growing up, they drink to reduce stress, or that’s the only way they know how to cope with their daily struggles. “Young people who use alcohol to cope with mental health or social problems are more likely to drink at dangerous levels” (ama.com.au, 2009, June 22).
I know from first hand experience transitioning from highschool to a university can induce anxiety because it’s the first time in your life you have to live in a new environment without your parents being around. Sometimes this change is too much to handle for one person, causing stress, anxiety, or depression and the only way they know how to cope is to drink alcohol. Since alcohol is so widely available anyone the age on twenty-one years or older can purchase it and distribute it among their underage colleagues.
Developing a dependence on alcohol takes times, it first starts of a drinking on special occasions, to I only drink when friends are over, then eventually a forming a habit, and lastly the habit turns into an addiction. When a person drinks alcohol the brain releases dopamine, dopamine is the chemical which gives you the feeling of happiness and euphoria. With constant intake of alcohol the brain continues to release dopamine, over time the brain slows down its production of dopamine leaving the user always chasing after the high they experienced the first time they drank.
