Short-Term Effects of Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorder
The short-term effects of alcohol run from flushing, lowered inhibition and slowed reflexes through to blackouts, vomiting and alcohol poisoning, which is fatal without treatment.
Alcohol works as a social lubricant, and people drink in moderation with family, friends and colleagues. The same drinking produces a set of short-term effects that scale with the amount consumed.
The effects turn dangerous once drinking passes the point of intoxication. Knowing where that point sits, and knowing what to do when drinking stops being controllable, is what separates a hangover from a hospital admission.
Which Factors Change the Short-Term Effects of Alcohol?
Six factors change how alcohol reaches a person: age at first drink, years of drinking, hours spent drinking that evening, amount consumed, frequency of drinking, and chronic health conditions.
There are 6 factors that change the short-term effects of alcohol:
- Age at the first drink
- Years of drinking alcohol
- Hours spent drinking that evening
- Amount of alcohol consumed
- Frequency of drinking
- Chronic health conditions that change how the body metabolizes alcohol
The six factors vary between people, so one person responds to alcohol in a way another does not. One person is unfit to drive after two drinks where another still passes a roadside test after four.
Knowing how alcohol reaches your own body before you drink is what makes the difference, because that response governs everything that follows.
What Are the Short-Term Effects of Alcohol?
Alcohol produces warmth, flushed skin, relaxation and lowered inhibition within one or two standard drinks, and slowed reflexes, poor coordination, slurred speech and blurred vision as drinking continues.
There are 5 first effects of alcohol:
- Warmth through the body
- Red, flushed skin
- Looseness and relaxation
- Lowered inhibitions
- Greater willingness to talk to people nearby
The first effects are pleasant, which is why people drink socially. Alcohol also sends people to the bathroom more often after the first drink, because alcohol is a diuretic and drives the kidneys to produce more urine.
The effects change as drinking continues past that point.
There are 5 short-term effects of continued drinking:
- Slowed reflexes
- Impaired coordination
- Slurred speech, as forming words becomes difficult
- Unpredictable emotion, running to irritability and anger in one person and to sadness in another
- Blurred vision
Alcohol degrades brain function, which is what makes even short-term alcohol use dangerous. Drinking past this point produces more serious symptoms: blackouts, meaning a loss of consciousness, severe nausea and vomiting, difficulty breathing, and alcohol poisoning.
What Are the Symptoms of Alcohol Poisoning?
Alcohol poisoning produces confusion, loss of consciousness, intractable vomiting, seizures, slow breathing, a slow heart rate, cold sweaty skin, no gag reflex and low body temperature. Call 911.
Alcohol poisoning develops when a person drinks past the point of intoxication, meaning a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above 0.08.
There are 9 signs of alcohol poisoning:
- Acute mental confusion, including hallucinations and delusions
- Inability to stay conscious, which is why people with alcohol poisoning pass out
- Acute, intractable vomiting, to the point of choking on the vomit
- Seizures
- Severe respiratory depression, meaning very slow breathing
- A very slow and light heart rate
- Sweaty, cold skin
- A complete loss of the gag reflex, which makes choking easy
- A very low body temperature
Alcohol poisoning kills. Call 911 immediately if a person around you shows any of the symptoms above. The prognosis improves the sooner treatment starts.
What Are the Signs of a Drinking Problem?
Six signs mark a drinking problem: complaints from other people, drinking more than planned, guilt and hiding the evidence, damaged relationships, rising tolerance, and health problems.
A person who cannot control their drinking needs help. Alcohol carries long-term health consequences alongside the short-term effects above.
There are 6 signs of a drinking problem:
- Complaints. People around you raising your drinking is a signal worth taking seriously. Think back over occasions when you were drinking and how other people reacted.
- More than planned. People set a limit before going out, because they want to drive home or work the next day. Drinking past that limit repeatedly marks a problem.
- Guilt. People with a drinking problem feel guilty about the amount they drink, and that guilt drives them to hide the evidence of how much they consumed.
- Damaged relationships. Drinking takes the time that close relationships need, so family and friendships suffer and important events get missed.
- Tolerance. People with a drinking problem build tolerance to alcohol and drink more to reach the same effect.
- Health problems. Heavy drinking over years raises the risk of pancreatitis, meaning inflammation of the pancreas, and memory loss.
The 6 signs above are the common ones rather than the complete set. Reaching out to a professional is the step that follows recognizing any of them.
How Does a Mental Health Professional Treat Alcohol Use Disorder?
A mental health professional treats alcohol use disorder through cognitive behavioral therapy, inpatient treatment, group therapy, one-on-one therapy, medication-assisted treatment and intensive outpatient programs.
Alcohol raises blood pressure, and alcohol use disorder reaches the person drinking along with their family and friends. Sustained drinking, and binge drinking in particular, produces cirrhosis, meaning scarring of the liver.
Alcohol reaches every organ system, which is why alcohol use disorder needs clinical treatment. A mental health professional treats the dependence and works out what drives the drinking.
There are 6 treatment options for alcohol use disorder:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy, also called CBT
- Inpatient treatment
- Group therapy
- One-on-one therapy
- Medication-assisted treatment
- Intensive outpatient programs
Where Can You Get Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment in Tampa?
Riverside Recovery of Tampa treats alcohol use disorder in Tampa, Florida, with a full continuum of care from medical detox through therapy and relapse prevention, all on one campus.
The short-term effects of alcohol damage health and well-being. Excessive alcohol consumption impairs judgment, slows reflexes and raises the risk of accident and injury, alongside digestive problems, headaches and dehydration.
Each treatment plan is built around the needs of the individual rather than a fixed program. Every level of care sits on the same campus, so a person steps down without starting over somewhere new.
Contact our admissions team today to learn more about alcohol use disorder and the treatment options available.
Rehm J. The Risks Associated With Alcohol Use and Alcoholism. Alcohol Research & Health. 2011;34(2):135-143. National Library of Medicine
Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption. Alcohol Research & Health. 2000;24(1):5-11. National Library of Medicine
Nehring SM, Freeman AM. Alcohol Use Disorder. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; updated 2022 Jul 31. National Library of Medicine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol Poisoning Deaths. Source for the signs of alcohol poisoning and the emergency response. cdc.gov
