APA RESEARCH PAPER

APA Research Paper

Abstract

History has shown that alcohol has been used in a number of beneficial ways.  History has also demonstrated hundreds and thousands of years ago that excessive and abusive drinking result in negative alcohol abuse effects and serious social and personal problems.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT2

TABLE OF CONTENTS3

Historical Information4

Chemical Components4

Effects6

Short-term effects6

Effects on Behavior7

Intoxication risks9

Long-term effects10

Tolerance and Dependence11

Withdrawal11

Alcohol co morbid disorders12

Rates Of Psychiatric Disorders In Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders12

National Comorbidity Survey13

Psychiatric disorder13

Individuals with alcohol dependence13

Alcohol-Medication14

How Common Are Alcohol-Drug Interactions?15

How Alcohol and Drugs Interact16

REFERENCES20

Alcohol

Historical Information

The product of natural fermentation was discovered by man in prehistoric time and was soon followed by deliberate production of wines and beers from sugary and starchy plants. Primitive alcoholic beverages served as foods, medicines, and euphoriants, in religious symbolism and social facilitation. They also caused such recognized troubles as diseases (including alcoholism itself), accidents, and quarrels, and they came under early social regulation, but the benefits sufficiently outweighed the costs that occasional attempts to banish them usually failed. Records of peoples from all over the world reveal essentially the same repetitious history up to modern times. Distillation provided a more potent intoxicant, a more efficient anesthetic-euphoriant, and more dangerous pathogen; this intensified but did not essentially change the problems surrounding alcohol. A further intensification of problems occurred with industrialization and with frontier conditions in America.

Chemical Components

The alcohol that is consumed at parties or bars or is called ethyl alcohol or ethanol, Ethyl alcohol is made by fermentation, a process in which yeast fungus feeds on starches and/or sugars in various grains (such as barley, rice, or hops) or fruits (such as apricots and grapes) and releases alcohol along with carbon dioxide (CO2).

Ethyl alcohol is depressant drug and not a stimulant as perceived by many people.  Perhaps this fact helps explain why so many people exhibit alcoholism and depression at the same time.  As a side note, when an individual manifests both alcoholism and depression, it is important for him or her to get medical treatment for both medical conditions.(Berglund,2005)

The amount of alcohol in drinks differs greatly depending on the type of drink that is ingested.  For instance, whereas wine and beer usually have an alcohol content somewhere between 5% and 15%, hard liquor, conversely, frequently has an alcohol content of 40% and can go as high as 90% or 95%.From the least expensive beer to the most expensive after dinner wine or liqueur, all alcoholic beverages are made from the same fermentation process.  The different colors, tastes, flavors, and strengths, nonetheless, come from the variety of fruits and vegetables that are utilized as well as from the diluting substances, by-products, and additives used in the fermentation process.

Effects

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, although in smaller amounts it may appear to have a mild stimulant effect. The main psychoactive ingredient in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol, produced through the fermentation of sugar by yeast. Alcoholic drinks vary in strength, e.g. beer and alcoholic sodas (1-9% alcohol), wines (10-15%) and spirits (35-55%).

The effects of alcohol vary depending on a number ...