HW10: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY

This paper attempted to determine the effects of alcohol to social relationships.

The research design used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein the data from documents and surveys were used to answer the research question posed. The research findings are the following:

1. The reason why people find an alcohol dependent less acceptable by the society is because of their misbehavior, bad odor, mental health and appearance.

2. Not all drinkers are alcohol dependent, many of them drinks to boost their confidence and to be one with the group where they belong.

3. Alcohol may relax our body at first but it does not really act as a stimulant instead it works as a depressant.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. Alcohol affects the social relationship of the drinker.

2. People who drink alcohol are less accepted by the society because of the fact that their behavior, mental health, odor and appearance are all affected by alcohol.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After drawing the conclusions of the study, here are some suggestions/recommendations:

1. The researcher should also focus not just on the effects of alcohol but also  on the deeper reason why people suffer from alcoholism.

2. People should do a research find an alternative for alcohol which could lessen the growing numbers of alcohol dependent.

HW9: Survey Report

This survey was conducted to further add ideas to the research topic: "Effects of the drinkable form of alcohol to social relationships". The researcher used survey questions to gather some information which may not be available in other sources. The survey questions were printed on a sheet of paper; each respondents were given a copy which they will answer. Twenty people were asked to answer the survey;composing of the researcher's friends, family, classmates and neighbors. Here are the result of the survey:

The survey shows that 95% of the respondents are drinkers and only 5% does not drink. The responds to the second question: "What age did you started drinking?" shows that 50% of them started between the age of 15 and 18. 25% of them answered 18 to 20; 15% answered 10 to 13; and 10% answered 13 to 15.

When the respondents were asked what is their main reason for drinking, 40% of them answered that they only drink during occasions especially when they are with their families. 35% of them answered that they love to drink during parties. 20% of them are drinking to escape their problems. 5% are those people drinking just to be relaxed; and no one answered that they drink because they love the taste.

The survey shows that 80% of the respondents prefers to drink beer while the remaining 20% prefers other form of alcoholic beverage such as liquor, rum, and wine. When they were asked how much quantity do they drink, 40% of them said that they drink 5 or more cups in a single night; while the others said that they drink about 2 to 3 cups per night.

When they were asked about the effects of alcohol that they usually feel when they drink, almost all of the respondents said that they feel dizzy. 20% of them said that they become more aggressive when they get drunk; and 5% of the said that they feel relaxed while drinking.

The last question was: "Who do you think is more accepted by the society?" 95% of them answered that Non-drinkers are most likely be accepted by our society.

Before conducting the survey, the researcher made a prediction of what will be the outcome of his survey. The researcher said that he thinks that most of the respondents will say that a non-drinker is more acceptable by our society. The prediction made by the researcher was correct.

HW8: The older the better.

While reading some facts and trivia in a popular kid's magazine, I learned that honey does not spoil. It was known to be the only food that remains in its raw form even after a long period of time. According to the magazine, an archaeologist discovered a 3,300-year-old jar of honey in an ancient Egyptian tomb. He was fascinated that he even tasted it, to his amazement the honey was still in a good condition. Near the tomb was an illustration showing an Egyptian collecting honey from a bee hive.

I was amazed with what I have read and think if there is any other food that could last thousands of years without being rotten. Then I remembered the fact that wines tastes better as they age. I wonder if wines could also last for thousands of years.

While surfing the internet, I search for some article about the aging of wine. I came across a forum where in a guy was asking: "How does alcohol tastes better with age?". One of the respondents, whose answer was chosen as the best, said that it is not the taste that changes but the smoothness of the wine. He described the feeling as a black hole that whenever a person will be drinking a young wine, all of the moisture will be sucked and will leave your mouth dry. He also said that he was privileged to taste an aged wine and said it was silky smooth.

Now I know why some people choose wine as their collection even though it needs meticulous care. Keeping a wine to age is tricky, a wine collector must know the proper temperature and learn proper storage to ensure the quality of wine. I also realized that taste is not the only quality that a drinker is looking for when drinking alcohol, smell and smoothness could also be a factor. 

HW7: Alcohol as Anesthesia

Last week when I went to the dentist, she used three doze of anesthesia to pull my tooth off. The reason behind using several doze of anesthesia is that it took her more than an hour to finish the tooth extraction, the anesthesia takes effect only for a few minutes that is why she need to apply more anesthesia for me not to feel the pain.

In conducting my research, I found out that alcohol could greatly affect our brain and sometimes could even paralyze it. I wonder if alcohol consumption could also lessen the amount of pain that we feel during surgeries.

While surfing the internet, I came across a discussion about the discovery and history of anesthesia. It is entitled: Lecture 4: THE DISCOVERY AND INVENTION OF ANESTHESIA (Stories in the History of Medicine) and is written by Adam Blatner, M.D.

While reading this article, I found out that alcohol and other substances such as opium were once used as a form of anesthesia. It was stated in the discussion that early surgeons, because there is no anesthesia yet, would make their patients drunk to resist the pain of the surgery. The problem is that alcohol cannot fully make the patient numb that is why the surgeon needs to work fast while a number of men is trying to hold the patient in place. 

Another problem that early surgeons encountered is that some of their patients vomit due to too much consumption of alcohol. The patient may unconsciously inhale his own vomit which will result in a kind of pneumonia called Aspiration pneumonia.

I was surprised that early people uses the effects of alcohol in medicine particularly in anesthetics. I cannot imagine that the substance most people nowadays use to consume and abuse was so relevant in the early development of anesthesia.

Thank God we already have the technology to provide us a good form of anesthesia; we do not have to suffer the pain of surgeries. I cannot imagine a dentist asking his patient to get drunk before a tooth extraction. What more if the patient is a non-drinker and does not even like the smell of alcohol. 

HW6: Dental Flaws

Yesterday when I went to the dentist, I remembered a story that my father told me when I was a kid. The story was all about my father's uncle who happened to be a dentist. One day, while he was drinking with his friends, a guy came in to his clinic and asked him if he could pull the guy's tooth off because it was badly hurting him. The man begged him because his tooth was aching for several days. The dentist without any hesitation grabbed his clothes and told the man to wait inside the clinic while he was preparing his kit.

The dentist went to the clinic and saw the man sitting on the dental chair. He asked the guy which tooth was about to be pulled, so the man pointed which one hurts. The dentist grabbed his syringe and started to inject anesthesia to the mouth of the man. When the anesthesia took effect, the operation started.

It took the dentist about an hour to pull the man's tooth off. The man was very thankful that the operation was finally finished. He paid the dentist and then eventually went home.

The next they the man ,whose tooth was pulled, came rushing to the clinic and is looking for the dentist once again. The dentist saw him and said: "what's the problem? Is your teeth okay now?", the man replied "No! You pulled the wrong tooth!". They both began to laugh because they can no longer return the wrong tooth which was pulled.

When I got home, I quickly looked for an article which will provide me an idea whether alcohol  really affects a person's performance or not. I searched through the net and found the article: "ALCOHOL'S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN." It was written by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The article says that "Large quantities of alcohol, especially when consumed quickly and on an empty stomach, can produce a blackout, or an interval of time for which the intoxicated person cannot recall key details of events, or even entire events"

Besides the fact that alcohol could make our brain relax and unconscious for a while, I agree that alcohol will more likely to have a quicker effect if it is taken in an empty stomach. The reason behind this is that our body will directly consume the alcohol without any other substance  to moderate it. I also remember the fact that if you will eat oily foods you will have a greater tolerance of alcohol because the oil and fats are covering your stomach walls which slows down the consumption of alcohol.

Blackout could also be a reason why a drunken person performs in a poor way. Blackouts are common among social drinkers and should be viewed a result of acute intoxication. People who experienced the blackout often say that when they wake up after a heavy drink, they cannot remember anything that happened last night or even the very place which they went.

Maybe the reason why my father's uncle pulled the wrong tooth is because he had a temporary memory gap and cannot recall which tooth was reported to be aching by his patient. Luckily his patient did not get mad because if he filled a case against my father's uncle, it could cause him his job because it is unprofessional to work under the influence of alcohol. 

HW5: Survey Questions

1. Do you drink alcohol regularly?

__Yes

__No

2. At what age did you started drinking?

__10 to 13yrsold

__13 to 15yrsold

__15 to 18yrsold

__18 to 20yrsold

__21 and above

3. What is your reason for drinking? (you can choose more than one)

__Occasions

__Parties

__To forget problems

__To relax

__I like the taste

__Others

4. What type of alcohol do you usually drink?

__Beer

__Gin

__Liquor

__Rum

__Wine

__Whiskey

__Vodka

__Others

5. How much quantity do you usually drink?

__1 cup

__2 cups

__3 cups

__4 cups

__5 cups and above

6. Who influenced you to drink?

__Family

__Friends

__Classmates

__Officemates

__Others

7. How does drinking of alcohol affect you?

__I feel dizzy

__I feel more aggressive

__I can’t remember a think

__I feel relax

__Nothing

__Others

8. What do think about people who drink alcohol?

_______________________________________________________________.

9. Who do think is more accepted by the society?

__Drinker

__Non-drinker 

10. Why?

_______________________________________________________________.

HW4: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Discussion

          What are the effects of alcohol in social relationship?

Definition and types of alcoholism.

Alcoholism is a term used to describe the compulsive or uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is considered a disease and an addictive illness. In psychiatry, different terms are used to describe alcoholism, terms such as "alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependent" although it has a slight difference with the meaning of alcoholism. In medicine they prefer to call it "alcohol dependence syndrome" rather than alcoholism.

The American Medical Association supports that alcoholism can be classified in to two types which includes the physical and mental components. The association also stated that the biological cause of alcoholism is still not clear up to date.

It is difficult for an alcoholic person to classify himself as afflicted because of the social stigma that causes people with drinking problem to avoid observing the signs because they are afraid of social discrimination. This leads to a growing number of alcohol dependents compared to the past years.

Alcoholism can be classified in five types; young adult, young anti-social, functional, intermediate familial and chronic severe.

 Young adult is composed of people with the age of 24 and is believed started drinking at the age of 20. This is considered as the largest subtype composing 32% of all the alcoholics. 

Young anti-social composes 21% of drink dependent; they are at the average of 26 years of age and are more likely to smoke marijuana and tobacco. 

Functional are those people who are married and have a job. These people seem to live a normal life although they drink regularly. Functional class is at the middle age and composes 19% of drinkers. 

Intermediate familial commonly have relatives who are also alcohol dependent, this may serve as a big factor why they engage in drinking. These people are at the average age of 27 and compose 19% of alcoholics. 

The last type of alcohol dependents is the chronic severe, these people commonly have problems with their family and could also be taking illegal drugs. It composes 9% of drinkers.

Factors influencing the society to accept an alcohol dependent people.

A. Misbehavior

People are more likely to misbehave when they are drunk. Alcohol, if taken too much, can affect the brain which causes the person to relax and loosen a little bit. The person, without him knowing, may start to act differently and do weird things.

Under the influence of alcohol, people may also start to become more aggressive. They no longer care about their surroundings, the people around them and themselves. This causes a big problem because not everyone can understand what is the reason why drunk people acts weird.

Drunken people may also have the tendency to be less sensitive with their acts and their words. Because the alcohol makes the person relax and unconscious, he no longer has control of what he is doing nor saying. This causes him to release all his feelings which he cannot say or do when he is in a normal condition. 

Drinking too much alcohol may also make people sexually aggressive. They show   much feelings and emotion towards other people around them. They become more affectionate and lose their self-control in public. These leads to sexual harassment, which may be verbal or physical and sometimes leads to rape.

B. Appearance

 Drinking alcohol makes people fat. Our body can increase weight if we take excess 146 calories in our diet, that excess amount of calories could be found in beers. Most heavy drinkers have a beer belly or a fat belly because all of the calories brought by drinking will be stacked in our stomachs. Drinking beer moderately won't cause a person to have a beer but binge drinking or drinking to get drunk will most likely result to a bigger waistline.

An alcohol dependent will most likely look older than a normal person although they may be at the same age; the reason behind this is that alcohol can make our skin dry. Drinking may also lead to less sleeping hours. We all know that sleeping plays a vital role in our health; this lets our body to recharge and to relax. Without proper sleep a person will be unlikely to rejuvenate properly.

C. Bad Odor


Poor hygiene is one of the problems that alcohol dependents suffer. Because they are too busy of drinking, they seem to forget that they also need to be clean. They become dirty, haggard and smelly.

Alcohol may also lead to bad breathe. The smell of alcohol will stay in the mouth of the drinker which is not a pleasant odor. And because they are already drunk, they can no longer wash their teeth or even gargle before sleeping. This may develop to a strong foul odor the next morning. 

D. Mental Health

Many people thinks that alcohol is a stimulant but actually it is not. Alcohol works by depressing the human brain. The first doze of alcohol may improve your mood but drink too much and it will go the opposite way. 

Mental Health Foundation conducted a survey and discovered that most people say that they drink to be happy, to add confidence and to be less anxious. This study shows a different interpretation of the effects of alcohol. Those people who drink heavily are more likely to suffer from mental illness.

E. Anxiety and Depression 

Alcohol can alter the chemistry of our brain and relieve negative thoughts and feelings. That is the reason why people use drinking to cope with their problems. Over a long period of time, drinking would just result to a bigger problem. Such case would need great amount of alcohol just to experience the same reduction in anxiety.

Depression on the other hand, depletes levels of serotonin - a chemical in our brain that helps regulate our emotions - through drinking. “In the long term a heavy drinker will need more and more alcohol to cope with their feelings,” says Simon Lawton-Smith, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation.