Factors That Influence Alcohol Consumption

• Biological Factors

Alcohol use is impacted by several genetic factors, and family histories, twins, adopted children, different racial groups and animals (Alcohol Health and Research World, 1995; Shuckit, 1999). Hereditary elements likewise seem to play a role that is associated with tobacco and different medications (Madden & Heath, 2002).

• Resistance and physical reliance

The more utilization of alcohol can change the body’s capacity, so body become less sensitive to the substance; however body need more amount of alcohol to get desired effect. This loss of sensitivity is called resistance or tolerance.When alcohol usage had been stopped then body shows withdrawal symptoms. This condition is called physical dependence. In some extreme cases, the impact of fast withdrawal of alcohol can be life- threatening, because the body has gotten to be so reliant on the alcohol that withdrawal interferes with normal body processes.

With physical dependence and tolerance level also changes in metabolic pathways, activation of parallel biochemical systems, cellular adaptation and changes to the release of neurotransmitters are help to find why alcohol usage is hard to stop.Some neurotransmitter systems with which alcohol interrelates are the following:

• GABA: Alcohol affects the recreation and sleepiness.
• Glutamate: alcohol lead to staggering, slurred speech, and memory blackouts
• Dopamine: All drugs which lead to dependence appear to affect the dopamine system. Stimulants like amphetamine and cocaine affect dopamine directly whereas other drugs appear to affect it indirectly.
• Norepinephrine: Also known as noradrenalin. Alcohol causes an entry of norepinephrine in the psyche which is one inspiration driving why alcohol goes about as stimulant and not virtually as a depress.

Alcohol does not lead to an increase of dopamine throughout the brain; it only causes an increase in dopamine in the area of the reward pathway (Boileau et al 2003). This reward pathway is comprised primarily of the nucleus accumbens, the VTA (ventral tegmental area), and a part of the prefrontal cortex.

Research has been needed on drug-specific receptor sites in the brain and the effects of specific drugs and their metabolites on neurotransmitters because of identification of many related structures and processes in alcoholics. Some factors are responsible for addictive behaviors like physiological or biochemical actions and neurotransmitter dopamine level. Dopamine plays a role in many pleasurable activities like movement and motivation.Education on biological effect of alcohol will motivate to change their behavior (Health Canada, 1999).

• Psychological Factors.

There are mainly three types of psychological factors: (1) identity characteristics, (2) psychodynamic techniques and (3) educated comprehensions and behaviors.

• Identity attributes

Many studies have searched for to find difference between individuals who have used alcohol or not and no result found in personalities who consumes low or moderate alcohol. Keller’s Law expresses that whatever quality was viewed as, the outcomes would demonstrate that heavy drinkers have either pretty much of it (Keller, 1972). Common pre-drinking personality attributes people have alcohol issues from an early age and solid solitary propensities and those people have a genetically determined brain disorder in prefrontal lobes. Be that as it may, no particular pre–drug use characteristics or bunches of qualities have been indicated to completely represent the onset or upkeep of medication use in youths or others (Allen, 1996; Molina et al., 2002). The important neurological aggravations may include the mind’s capacities of arranging and objective detailing, perseverance, checking toward oneself and appraisal toward oneself. These unsettling effects show in: attention-shortfall issue, childhood hyperactivity, pre-alcoholic key tremor, left-handedness, impulsiveness, emotional unsteadiness, aggressiveness, antisocial and psychopathic inclinations. These qualities can find only on heavy drinkers or who prefer for companion who drink more. Users of alcohol with these identity attributes may advantage form preparing in adapting abilities, discretion and backslide counteractive action (Ball, 1996).

The relationship between psychological health and substance utilization are complex and hard to unravel. Some people with genuine metal disturbances like phobias, fierceness, nervousness, sadness, insanity seem to utilize alcohol to self-medicate for mental trouble. While customers with simultaneous issue are for the most part thought to be difficult to treat, incorporated emotional wellness and enslavement treatment administrations appear to be very fruitful (Health Canada, 2002).

• Psychodynamic techniques

A psychodynamic way means study of mental strengths, structures and capacities as they create and change after some time. Psychodynamic viewpoints on alcohol use concentrate on unconscious inspiration, feelings, respect toward oneself, regulation toward oneself and interpersonal connections. Sigmund Freud proposed that heavy drinkers were orally focused, so they are not able to adapt to the requests of grown-up life. Later, he suggested that alcohol addiction was due to repressed homosexuality. He gave reason that male homosexuals turned to drink because they were disappointed with relationships with women and because drinking gave them an excuse to be with other men. (Barry, 1988).

• Educated comprehensions and behaviors.

Use of alcohol initiates two fundamental learning mechanisms (1) Classical Conditioning, (2) Operant Conditioning.

• Classical conditioning

It occurs when an primarily neutral stimulus finally produces the same responses as an existing stimulus with which it has been paired. The best example is the trials of Ivan Pavlov, in which he rang a bell every time he fed his dogs. Initially, the dogs salivated (an unconditioned response) only at the sight of food (an unconditioned stimulus). However, in time the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell. The bell thus became a conditioned stimulus and salivation a conditioned response. Classical conditioning has been used to explanation for increased acceptance of the belongings of alcohol.

• Operant conditioning

It occurs when practices are formed by their results. In this type, positive reinforcements (rewards) are used to increase the frequency of specific behaviors in specific situations, and negative reinforcement (withholding of rewards) or punishments are used to decrease or eliminate behaviors. Alcohol used for joy can act as positive reinforces. People believed that the utilization of alcohol can alleviate stress, which may maintain an individual’s utilization and motivate them to drink. A reasonable clarification is that push alleviation from liquor or other medication utilization is impacted by desires that help will happen (Cohen and Baum, 1995).

There is solid experimental and clinical support for a social learning examination of substance utilization (Wilson, 1988). Likewise, liquor use medications based on hypothesis have more backing from experimental studies than do other sorts of treatment for liquor use (Health Canada, 1999). Treatment techniques built directly or indirectly on social learning hypothesis are: aversion treatment, cue-presentation training, social aptitudes preparing, self-control training, and relapse aversion. Social learning hypothesis, alongside hypotheses of customer focused directing, additionally affected the improvement of motivational meeting (Miller, 1996).

• Sociocultural factors

The accessibility and cost of alcohol influence people who drink more in the group (Single, 1988; Godfrey & Maynard, 1988). The substance utilization society of the overwhelming society, and particularly of customers’ associates and family, can add to proceeding with substance utilize and backslide. This is particularly so in societies that advances substantial or unlawful substance utilization, or substance utilization to take care of issues. Family life and family related problems contribute to alcohol use and relapse. If relatives drink alcohol in front of kids then kids are definitely drinks, because relatives are model for them. Childhood experience whether it is stressful or not decide that they will consume alcohol in their younger life or not. Some family-related problems which associated with alcohol consumption are poverty, membership in a gathering depreciated by the bigger society, alcohol issue among relatives, parental misuse and disregard, parental separation, low shared bolster (Goplerud, 1990).