When someone drinks a lot of alcohol, this can cause major problems in the short and long term. These can be both psychological and physical problems. For example, drinkers have a greater chance of developing serious diseases, such as some types of cancer and heart disease. But problems in the home are also common among people who drink alcohol excessively.

Mental health problems

Frequent use of alcohol can cause psychological problems in the long term. Research has shown that people with an alcohol problem are twice as likely to suffer from a psychiatric disorder. Nearly half of all alcoholics suffer from one or more personality disorders.

Depression

People who regularly drink alcohol are more likely to develop depression. This can be both a cause and a consequence. Depression makes a person dependent on alcohol. Or someone suffers from depression due to an alcohol problem. People who drink a lot often suffer from an inferiority complex and try to control their insecurity by using alcohol.

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety and panic attacks and compulsive disorders are more common in people who drink a lot of alcohol. This also applies to people who have had an alcohol problem in the past. The chance that you will develop an anxiety disorder does not decrease over time and will always remain present.

Home-situation

When someone in the family has an alcohol problem, this can have major consequences for the entire family. In families where domestic violence occurs, alcohol is often involved. This is because the use of alcohol often causes aggressive behavior. People who drink a lot often no longer know their limits, and are therefore more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior.People who are dependent on alcohol also often have problems with friendships. Many people feel that they can no longer rely on someone when someone uses alcohol frequently. This is because agreements are often not kept, and because there is a lot of lying.

Physical problems

In addition to psychological problems, excessive use of alcohol also causes physical problems. There are short-term consequences, such as having a hangover or not remembering exactly what happened (Black out). But the use of alcohol can certainly have serious consequences in the longer term.

Liver disorders

When using alcohol, the liver has a hard time. This can cause serious conditions such as fatty liver disease, liver inflammation or liver cirrhosis. These are all serious conditions, from which people can even die if action is not taken in time. The only thing that can ensure that the above conditions do not worsen is to stop drinking alcohol. If this is not done, the conditions can even be fatal in the worst case.

Korsakov

Korsakov’s syndrome is a serious form of brain damage caused by alcohol consumption. You can compare this form of brain damage with dementia. It may be that family members are suddenly no longer recognized by someone suffering from Korsakoff. Furthermore, these conditions can subsequently cause psychological problems such as anxiety and depression.

Cancer

Of all cancer deaths, approximately 10% is due to excessive alcohol use. People who drink frequently have a greater risk of developing cancer of the mouth, throat and esophagus. There is also an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal and liver cancer. Women who drink a lot of alcohol increase their risk of developing breast cancer.

Heart and vascular disease

Excessive use of alcohol affects our heart. For example, drinking alcohol constricts our blood vessels, and blood pressure can become very high. Cardiac arrhythmias and cerebral hemorrhages can also occur due to frequent drinking of alcohol.