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Effects Of Alcoholism On A Family

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“Approximately 26.8 million children are exposed to alcoholism in the family and 6.6 million children age 18 and younger live in households with at least one alcoholic parent” (Rachel Lohmann P.H.D. Broken Promises). As the numbers state alcoholism is a major problem in our society. Day after day young children, spouses, friends, and other family members are affected greatly by one alcoholic. In order to understand the full effects that alcoholism has on a family as a whole, it is crucial to understand what alcohol does to the body, why an alcoholic thinks the way that they do, behavioral traits of alcoholics, how children are affected by alcoholism in the home, and finally different forms of help that are offered for alcoholics. According to a clinical study published by The Medical College of Shantou University “Alcohol consumption has immediate effects on multiple cognitive-motor processing domains and leads to damage of multiple attention abilities”. In plainer terms alcohol messes with the chemicals in your brain that affects things like reaction time. Alcohol actually alters these chemicals, increasing and decreasing some. This change in chemicals is almost instantaneous, one of the main chemicals affected is dopamine. Dopamine is defined by psychologytoday.com as a neurotransmitter, a chemical that is responsible for transmitting signals in between the nerve cells of the brain. Basically, it is the chemical that is responsible for making us feel happy.
David

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