Alcohol abuse is defined as drinking to the point that one’s physical, mental, or social well-being is compromised.
Abuse of alcohol is often defined as more than one drink per day for women (seven drinks per week) or two drinks per day for males (fourteen drinks per week).
When a male consumes five or more drinks in a short period, or a woman consumes four or more drinks, they are engaging in binge drinking, which is a kind of alcohol abuse. There is a correlation between binge drinking and the development of alcohol use disorders. (AUD). The failure to moderate alcohol use despite adverse effects is a hallmark of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The presence of alcohol cravings, tolerance to alcohol’s effects, and withdrawal symptoms upon attempts to cut down or quit drinking are all signs of alcohol use disorder. As a result of their physiological dependence on alcohol, many alcoholics find that cutting down or stopping their drinking causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms they seek to alleviate by drinking again.
Alcohol Withdrawal: What Causes It
It is believed that the different alterations in brain activity brought on by chronic and excessive alcohol consumption are the root cause of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. While the neurochemical aspects of alcohol withdrawal syndrome are complex, the symptoms that accompany it are a consequence of the brain attempting to restore the normal balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter activity, which was first disrupted due to chronic alcohol consumption.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the brain’s major inhibitory chemical, and glutamate, the brain’s main excitatory chemical, both contribute to both the short-term effects of drinking and the development of alcohol withdrawal syndrome after someone stops drinking.
Anxiety and drowsiness are common side effects of alcohol use because of the way it alters the activity of GABA receptors and other glutamate receptors in the brain. In response to alcohol’s effect on GABA and glutamate levels, the brain reduces GABA release and boosts glutamate transmission. This change, known as tolerance, is active so long as the alcoholic beverage is consumed regularly. You can read more or get in touch with a doctor if needed.