About alcohol and alcohol-related problems

   Immediate effects of drinking

Alcohol is a drug. The immediate effect is to alter mood. Because drinking makes you feel relaxed, happy and even euphoric, people can be surprised to learn that alcohol is actually a depressant. It negatively impacts on judgement and decision-making, and leads to a loss of inhibition - hence the feeling of relaxation and euphoria. Alcohol also affects physical co-ordination. The more consumed, the greater the effect - speech becomes slurred, vision blurred, balance is lost and movements are clumsy. Heavy drinking will depress all bodily functions; so drinking very large quantities can result in unconsciousness, coma, or even death. Vomiting while unconscious or in a heavy sleep can cause death by asphyxiation.

Some people are more vulnerable to the immediate effects of alcohol depending on:

• Body size - because there is more blood in a large person than in a small person, the concentration of alcohol in the large person will rise more slowly, and reach a lower level, than in a small person, even if they both drink the same amount.
• Gender - women's bodies have more fat and less fluid than men's; so even if they are a similar size and weight to a man and drinking the same amount, the concentration of alcohol in the blood will be higher in the women.
• Age - it appears that both young people and older people may process alcohol more slowly, and so they will have alcohol in their systems for longer.
• Genetics - there may be variations in how alcohol affects people of different races. For instance, many people of East Asian origin have an enzyme, which causes a strong allergy-like reaction to alcohol.