I’m more so curious what it is about alcohol’s effects that make it far more likely for a person to hurt the ones they love. I speculate that it has something to do with impulse control, but I can’t be sure.
Thanks in advance.
In: Biology
Alcohol breaks down inhibitions and the drinker lashes out from his lack of self control and lack of compassion towards others.
Weak sad small ppl turn into their idea of powerful towards the vulnerable easy targets.i lived with one.its a awful thing for everyone involved
I’m sure there are lots of reasons but some thoughts are that alcohol inhibits REM sleep and sleep patterns in general, meaning that even though a person might not be awake for 8 hours that’s not the same as getting 8 hours of sleep. If that goes on night after night month after month. The person can be mentally exhausted this can lead to a really short temper so that they can fly off the handel at the smallest provocation. Crazy part is if they come off the booze their sleep pattern will get worse and be even more irritable.
People who drink to get black out drunk also tend to be carrying trauma of some kind and this can come out as rage due to their feeling of impotence or perhaps lack of agency in their lives.
Former drunk here. You learn in treatment that you hurt the ones you love because they are often the physically closest to you. It’s a proximity thing.
The book ‘Why Does He Do That?” by Lundy Bancroft addresses this directly. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Abusers are abusive regardless of substance control issues, and many abusers get _worse_ when they become sober.
Correlation and causation. You’ve got both going on when it comes to alcoholism and domestic violence.
Alcohol abuse will decrease a person’s capacity to function, so they are more likely to be abusive or negligent, but alcohol abuse often results from the same impulse control issues that would lead a non-alcoholic to be abusive. Many people use alcohol as a form of self-medication for problems like depression or ADHD. These underlying conditions already impair their executive function. Even without the addition of alcohol, they may express their struggles through an explosive temper, verbal cruelty, etc.
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