Alcohol misuse
Drinking too much alcohol can affect you physically, mentally and socially.
Physically, in the short term, drinking too much alcohol can lead to:
- nausea
- vomiting
- headaches
- hangovers
- weight gain
- accidents and getting into fights
- risk of death through accidents, acute alcohol poisoning or choking on your own vomit.
Longer term, drinking too much alcohol can lead to:
- stomach disorders (e.g. ulcers)
- cancer of the mouth, throat and gullet
- brain damage
- high blood pressure, which increases the risk of strokes and coronary heart disease
- muscle disease
- problems with the nervous system.
Mentally, drinking too much alcohol can lead to:
- anxiety
- insomnia
- depression
- personality change
- attempted suicide
- suicide.
Socially, drinking too much alcohol leads to:
- criminal damange
- unwanted pregnancies
- family arguments
- child neglect and abuse
- domestic violence
- problems at work.
Contacts
The contacts database contains details of organisations that may be able to offer information or assistance on this issue.
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Information on this page reproduced from "Alcofacts: A Guide to Sensible Drinking" produced by the Health Promotion Division, 1999
