Alcohol Abuse Hinders Recovery from Stress Related Disorders
It is not unheard of for people to wish to calm their nerves by having stiff drink. Yet, this is often completely disadvantageous for individuals who want to get over devastating incidents or life changes. Research conducted recently that can be located in the journal of Nature Neuroscience has discovered ways in which heavy drinking impacts mental performance in such a way to make it more challenging for individuals struggling with alcoholism to overcome a traumatic incident.
Drunk And Sober Mice
The study was completed by a instructor of pharmacology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, along with a scientist from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). To carry out the research, one faction of mice was given a certain amount of alcohol that equates to the amount to put a human two times over the lawful driving limit. Being the control group, an additional set of mice were kept sober. Researchers then used a conditioning method in which they prompted mild electric shocks to produce the fear of a noise. Once the tone was sounded consistently without the accompaniment of the jolt, researchers discovered a significant variation in the amount of time it had taken for those two groups to not be troubled by the sound. The alcohol free faction eventually quit being afraid of the tone, while the mice with alcohol exposure were troubled for a long period of time after the electric jolts had ceased.
Results
The researchers found that the response that the group of mice with alcohol exposure exhibited what looked like the way people who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) react fearfully in circumstances which are not threatening. When examining the nerve cells inside the brains of both categories of mice, scientists discovered that cellular structure of the alcohol-exposed mice had actually been morphed into a different structure. Further more, the functions of important circuits in the brain were stifled inside the inebriated mice. Alcohol revealed to possess debilitating effects for both the emotional functions of the subjects and also the molecular characteristics inside the brain.
Implications
These conclusions were very valuable given that they present exactly where alcohol abuse is related to issues of conquering trauma in the brain and how heavy drinking is only able to temporarily disguise the pain of anxiety and fear. Through good research, scientists are hoping to find alternative ways to deal with people who have alcoholism and co-occurring anxiety disorders. Sober living is vital in overcoming the unbearable effects of a traumatic event. While the pain of past incidents can be at times excruciating, people will need to take a healthy step-by-step approach to be able to truly overcome it.