Colton

Just a list of the pros and cons of drinking for myself and others.


Pros:
*It feels good
*It makes one more sociable in some situations
*The drinks often taste good
*May confer positive health benefits only in those who drink under 2 drinks (woman) or 3 drinks (man) on any given day.

Cons:
*Hangovers, nausea...it feels pretty bad
*It makes on less sociable...a lot of us isolate ourselves when we drink and we often make fools of ourselves when we do drink socially
*Alcohol itself tastes aweful...there are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks that taste very good...including non-alcoholic beer if you must taste some beer.
*Health benefits: keep in mind that binge drinkers die much earlier as do heavy drinkers...also, the alcohol industry is HUGE. They have a lot of control over information. Remember the 1950's when cigarettes were a breath of fresh air and doctor recommended? I think society is at that stage with alcohol. Alcohol is not good for anyone. If we need thinner blood (which is its only health benefit), fish oil and aspirin will do.
Alcohol:
*Costs lots of money
*Ruins health
*Is in fact a poison...(see my other post on that)
*Is empty calories
*Makes people do stupid things
*Impairs any sort of resolve to quit smoking or go on any sort of diet
*Will mess up your exercise program
*Dramatically increases your chances of being arrested
*Messes up your sleep schedule
*Cues the body's hormones to make you lose muscle and gain fat
*Causes brain damage
*Can kill you from overdosage
*Can kill you from withdrawal
*Is a addictive.
*Will make you think irrational thoughts to get you to drink again
*Is recognized as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization
*Causes blood pressure to go through the roof
*Will ruin relationships
*May cause accidents
*Will make you say stupid things on facebook or otherwise embarrass yourself
*It is something you may be anxious about because you are hiding it.
*It makes you scared for your health and scared of the doctor
*You become more pre-occupied with alcohol than you do with life.


This is an interesting video that I kind of liked...it inspired me to do this list. I only smoke when I drink (in fact I never smoke sober), so, like this guy, I am going to be knocking out two birds with one stone.

How I quit drinking and smoking. - YouTube

soberlicious

No pros, all cons. The biggest con game ever, in fact.

desertsong

Even the "pros" became "cons" after awhile. Yes, it felt good ... for awhile. Then it stopped working. I couldn't get "buzzed" anymore ... I just went straight to drunk. Sure it made me more sociable ... in a stupid way. I acted like an idiot. It did taste good for awhile there but having to drink my way through a hangover often made me want to puke. And it was never 2 drinks ... never.

Colton

It's even trickier for me.


I can have 1-2 drinks and then stop. I can do that. The trouble is that when I do that, I start planning times to get drunk by myself...or thinking of ways to rationalize why its okay to get drunk. It's a lot like sex (assuming I just want sex and not a relationship). 1-2 drinks is like when a beautiful woman flirts with me and talks with me and I end up getting her number...it is a pleasant and exciting experience in and of itself. But ultimately I am going to be preoccupied and I am going to be planning on ways to fully indulge myself (have sex/get drunk)...it's a huge distraction.

Even if I was able to stick with moderate drinking (which has never lasted more than a couple weeks)...I'd always be thinking about my next moderate drinking session. It's just too much mental junk.

soberlicious

Exactly! Like I said biggest con game ever. For me, the mental junk stopped when I took the drinking option off the table. It's not an option. ever. game over.

Stang

Pretty much! For all the sh!t tobacco companies have been subjected to over "false and misleading" advertising not Jack sh!t is said about the rosey picture beer companies paint in their commercials!

Colton

The booze companies are rich...they can advertise however they like. They can pay for their own politicians to manipulate the laws to their advantage.

Consider this...alcohol companies do market research. Think about how much alcohol the average alcoholic consumes compared to the average drinker....I believe I read that something like 10% of the population consumes 50% of the alcohol or something like that. Alcoholics are their target demographic...those ads are designed specifically to push alcoholics over the edge. If I was the the CEO of any alcohol company, I would know for certain that the money in alcohol would be all about pushing alcoholics off the wagon.

soberlicious

All true Stang and Colton, but I was actually referring to the con game that went on in my own head.

gaffo

A long time ago I lived in East Oakland and drank lots of malt liquor. The ads were absolutely everywhere, as was super cheap malt liquor. I can still sing some of the jingles. I've participated in market research for beer. I was paid in beer. They had me coming and going, just like the cigarette companies...

NewBeginning010

I have a few more cons to add. There should definitely be a warning label on alcohol & its advertising. How about we all get together & do a class action lawsuit

Would be great to copy & add the cons together to the list of your initial post Colton.


Cons:

- Impaired behavior and judgment
- Memory loss
- Lack of concentration and coordination
- Impaired vision and hearing
- Slower motor skills and reactions
- Mood swings
-Jaundice
- Liver cirrhosis
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Alcoholic fatty liver
- Liver cancer
- Slurred speech
- Can lead to withdrawals & eventually death
- Vomiting
- Peptic ulcers
- Throat cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Gastritis
- Hemorrhaging
- Colon cancer
- Infertility
- Impotency
- Breast cancer
- Sterility (in men)
- Atrophy of testes (in men)
- Can (and will) cause liver & kidney damage
- Can lead to slow painful death
- Can ruin most of your relationships
- Can make you homeless
- Can affect your judgement
- Can make you homeless
- Can affect your financial status
- Can lead to depression
- Can cause isolation
- Can cause bodily injury to yourself & others
- Can cause aggressive behavior & fights
- Can cause you to say things you dont mean
- Can cause you to do things you would never do sober
- Will lead to embarrassment
- Likely to cause self loathing & worthlessness
- Can make you hopeless
- Is highly addictive
- Will cause blackouts
- Will cause nausea
- Can lead to vomiting
- Will cause diarrhea
- Will cause bloating
- Can cause failure of the liver
- Can cause failure of the heart
- Can affect your memory & thinking
- Can have dramatic reduction in brain function
- is bad for your blood pressure. Even modest amounts of alcohol can cause the blood pressure to rise, especially in older adults.
- Alcoholics are more vulnerable to liver disease. It can cause varicose veins in the stomach lining which may swell up due to liver blockage and suddenly burst. The bleeding can be very difficult to stop.
- It weakens your body’s defenses. Chronic drinkers have weaker immune systems and are more likely infections, allergies, and diseases. Their injuries also take more time to heal than usual.
- Heavy drinking can make your bones weak and make you more susceptible to bone disease. Drinking can inhibit the formation of new bone cells and cause low bone mass.
- Alcoholics have a higher risk of infection after a heart surgery. Long-term alcoholics are 4 times more likely to develop post-operative infections following cardiac surgery than nonalcoholic patients.
- Alcohol upsets your body’s biological clock. Alcohol affects your heart rate, body temperature, hormone levels and pain threshold. Drinking alcohol can have negative consequences on these biological rhythms. Alcoholics also do not eat properly and have disturbed sleep at nights, thus affecting their health in the long run.
- Long-term effects of consuming alcohol are permanent damage to vital organs such as the brain and liver. Drinking alcohol leads to poor memory and coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes and even blackouts.
- Mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy give birth to infants suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). These babies may suffer from mental retardation and other irreversible physical abnormalities.
- Children of alcoholic parents are at higher risk than other children of becoming alcoholics.
- Alcohol is often associated with Obesity. Alcoholics are generally overweight because alcohol is full of calories, so, even some drinks a day will fatten you up in no time. And alcohol has no essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals.
- Alcohol cause irregular heart beat. It increases the risk of developing a certain type of irregular heart beat, known as atrial fibrillation, or atrial flutter.
- Alcohol can act as a ‘Blood Thinner’. Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol can affect blood coagulation and act as a blood thinner.
- Research shows that heavy smokers are also heavy smokers.
- Alcoholics often suffer from depression and stress.
- Alcoholics may have severe sleep disorders and those who are trying to quit, also suffer from sleep problems for many months.
- Alcohol may harm the thyroid function in women.
- Alcohol is bad for your sexuality. It gives a high for sometime but may lead to impotence and erection problems.
- Alcoholism makes you more prone to violent and abusive behavior. Alcohol also increases the risks of domestic violence, child abuse and accidents while driving. - - Alcohol consumption makes your mind temporary insane and you may not realize what you are doing. Hence there are more chances of sexual violence.
- You may also suffer from a hangover after consuming large amounts of alcohol. You may experience headache, nausea, thirst, dizziness, and fatigue.
- Prolonged use of alcohol may lead to addiction (alcoholism). And sudden stopping may produce withdrawal symptoms, including severe anxiety, tremors, hallucinations and convulsions.
THE HARMFUL AFFECTS OF ALCOHOL
ON THE BRAIN AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Alcohol is a depressant, which slows down the central nervous system and can cause drowsiness, relieve pain and induce sleep.

- Drinker experiences mild euphoria and loss of inhibition as alcohol impairs region of the brain controlling behavior and emotions. Alcohol impairs behavior, judgment, memory, concentration and coordination (shortened attention span, impaired problem solving abilities), as well as inducing extreme mood swings and emotional outbursts.

- Alcohol acts as a sedative on the central nervous system, depressing the nerve cells in the brain, dulling, altering and damaging their ability to respond appropriately. Large doses cause sleep, anesthesia, respiratory failure, coma and death.

- Impaired or distorted visual ability and hearing (affects ability to distinguish between sounds and perceive the direction they are coming from) ; dulled smell and taste (reducing the desire to eat) and loss of pain perception; altered sense of time and space

- Impairs fine motor skills, and slows reactions.

- Numbness and tingling in the arms and legs caused by nerve damage from depletion of thiamine (B vitamin); when severe, can damage other nerve endings, causing staggering, etc. (Wernicke's Encephalopathy).

- Long term drinking may result in permanent brain damage (Korsakoff's Syndrome or 'wet brain'), serious mental disorders, and addiction to alcohol.

ON THE LUNGS

- Lowered resistance to infection.

- High amounts of alcohol may cause breathing to stop, then death.

ON THE LIVER

- Chronic heavy drinking may cause alcoholic hepatitis (inflammation and destruction of liver cells) and then cirrhosis (irreversible lesions, scarring, and destruction of liver cells). Impairs the liver's ability to remove yellow pigment, and skin appears yellow (jaundice).

- Liver damage causes fluid to build in extremities (Edema).

- Decreases production of blood-clotting factors; may cause uncontrolled bleeding

- Liver accumulates fat which can cause liver failure (“alcoholic fatty liver”), coma and death.

REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM – Male and Female

- Sexual functioning can be impaired and deteriorate, resulting in impotence and infertility, sometimes irreversible. Females also have a high risk of developing breast cancer.

- In men, may lead to sterility, atrophy of the testes and enlargement of the breasts.

- Early menopause and menstrual irregularities are common in women who drink excessively.

- Drinking during pregnancy significantly increases chance of delivering a baby with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; small head, possible brain damage, abnormal facial features, poor muscle tone, speech and sleep disorders, and ******** growth and development.

HEART

- Weakens the heart muscle and ability to pump blood (Cardiomyopathy).

- Abnormal heart signals, irregular heart beat and heart enlargement.

- Increases blood pressure, risk of heart attack and stroke.

- Inhibits production of both red and white blood cells.

MUSCLES

Due to lower phosphate, muscles become weaker and atrophy; pain, spasms and tenderness.

STOMACH/INTESTINAL/DIGESTIVE

- Irritation and damage of esophagus lining, induces severe vomiting, hemorrhaging, pain and difficulty swallowing. Can contribute to throat cancer.

- Irritation of stomach lining, can cause peptic ulcers, inflammation, bleeding lesions and cancer. Minute blood loss may deplete the body's iron stores, causing irritability, lack of energy, headaches and dizziness.

- The pancreas becomes stressed from having to create insulin to process the sugar present in alcohol. This creates a significant risk of pancreatitis, a chronic inflammation that can be fatal. - rly menopause and menstrual irregularities are common in women who drink excessively. of sugar in alcohol. n severe,

- Irritation of the intestinal tract lining and the colon

- Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, sweating and loss of appetite are common.

- Alcohol impairs the small intestine's ability to process nutrients and vitamins.

- Chronic drinking may result in inflammation, ulcers, and cancers of the intestines and colon.

BONES

- Alcohol interferes with the body's ability to absorb calcium, resulting in bones being weak, soft, brittle and thinner (Osteoporosis).

The list is ongoing & I would be here for hours/days if I kept going

All of the best in your recovery

thisisme

There are no pros, only excuses.
There are to many cons to list.

Nirvana1

I had to laugh that you fished for "some drinks taste good" as a pro. Not even close. Alcohol is the worst tasting liquid on the planet.

macknacat

i may as well list all the pros n cons of doing 155mph thru town to get where i'm going- sure , i am demonstrating that the rules don't apply to me , that my wheels go that fast, that yeah buddy i am passing YOU, that i'm getting a hell of an adrenaline rush, that people are pointing at ME, that MY business is important, etc etc

but then there's that crash and burn thingy.....

ressurectJ

ohhh so those irrational thought are like a trigger from your addiction to push you into drinking ?

BHF

Alcohol had it's benefits for me, or else I wouldn't have consumed so much of it so often. However, as most alcoholics will experience, the counter-effects that alcohol had, the detrimental effects that were brought about, far outweighed any initial benefit. I was "sucked in" by the initial euphoria and eventually reached a point where it was a coping mechanism and a constant attempt to regain that initial feeling and maintain it.

That being said... alcohol didn't do those things to me intentionally. I drank the alcohol...and my body experienced the eventual adverse reaction. I am an alcoholic and if giving the choice I would not choose to be so....but I am, so I have to deal with it. I deal with it by not drinking alcohol and by following a form of recovery which I have found assists me in doing so.

Personally, I do not deal with the fact that I am an alcoholic by dwelling on how unfair it is that alcohol is easily obtainable, that companies are making $$ by selling it, that advertising for alcohol is often misleading or by feeling slighted that others can drink alcohol with seeming impunity. For me, to do so is to dwell in the past. That's over, I quit fighting that battle. It never worked out well for me.